Free trade agreements (FTAs) have proliferated in East Asia in recent years. As of December 2008, eight bilateral FTAs and one plurilateral FTA involving Japan have entered into force; additional negotiations are ongoing with several more countries. The proliferation of FTAs in Japan and other...

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) actively use overseas affiliates to trade with third countries (i.e., neither the home country nor host country). In this paper, we empirically identify significant firm characteristics that influence the use of FTAs in export-platform Foreign Direct Investment...