International joint ventures: Ownership distribution, transfer pricing and strategic trade policy.

摘要

In recent years, foreign investments have been marked by an increasing number of international joint ventures. Studies, especially in the field of international business, have produced a vast literature on the rationale for international joint ventures, but there does not seem to exist analytical models that explain the mechanisms through which economic factors participate in their formation and the determination of ownership distribution patterns.;In the context of these models the dissertation examines the role of the host and parent countries' tax policy and the parent firm's transfer pricing policy toward the joint venture. The focus is on whether or not commitment on respective policy by governments and the parent firm is a preferred strategy. Moreover, in each model two cases are considered: one where the local partner is a private firm, and the other where this partner is a public firm.;The central conclusions are as follows: First, both governments as well as the parent firm prefer a no commitment strategy with respect to their tax and transfer pricing policies respectively. Second, the identity of the local partner (whether it is a private or public firm) is an important determinant of the equilibrium distribution of ownership shares, and hence the welfare of the host country. Finally, forming joint ventures in oligopolistic industries reduces the magnitude of government interventions in terms of international trade policies.;Three analytical models of international joint ventures are developed in this dissertation. The distinguishing feature of these models is that the equilibrium distribution of the ownership shares between the partners (local and parent firms) is endogenously determined according to the Nash-bargaining criterion. The first model is confined to those types of joint ventures that operate in a non-oligopolistic markets. The second and third models examines joint ventures that operate in oligopolistic markets.