Location for Foreign Direct Investment in Vertically Related Markets

This paper studies a multinational enterprise's (MNE's) location decision in a vertically related market with endogenous vertical technology transfer (VTT). We show that, even though VTT is more costly in a less developed country, an MNE can transfer more technology there than in a developed country (DC). When the opposite occurs, the MNE sometimes locates in a DC where, although it faces stronger competition, it obtains the input at better terms. Therefore, by arguing that the MNE's decision can be crucially affected by the upstream market's outcomes, an alternative explanation is provided for the commonly observed foreign direct investment (FDI) in DCs.