Outward Foreign Direct Investment and US Exports, Jobs, and R&D: Implications for US Policy (Policy Analyses in International Economics)

This book examines the relationship between outward foreign direct investment (FDI) by US multinational corporations (MNCs) and US exports, US jobs, and R&D in the United States. The authors demonstrate that expanded activity at the foreign affiliates of US corporations is associated with larger production, greater employment, higher exports, and more R&D in the United States. These results are reinforced by a new set of case studies showing that overseas and domestic R&D facilities within US MNCs reinforce, complement, and strengthen each other. The findings suggest that less investment abroad by US firms would weaken-not strengthen-the US economy. It is therefore not in the US interest to adopt tax and regulatory policies that discourage global engagement by US multinationals.