International Business Flashcards
Tariff
A Tax levy on products imported or exported.
What is free trade?
When government does not influence through quotas or duties of what citizens can buy from another country.
What are the benefits of free trade?
Absolute advantage, comparative advantage.
Flaws of mercantilism
Zero sum game= a gain by one country is a loss of another.
New trade theory
Countries specialize in the production and export of particular products because certain industries in the world can support only a limited number of firms.
Mercantilism
Gold and silver were the mainstrays of national wealth and essentials to commerce.
Beliefs (tenets) of mercantilism
It is in a countries best interest to maintain a trade surplus to export more than it imported. It advocates government intervention to achieve a surplus in the balance of trade.
Absolute advantage
Production of a product when it is more efficient than any other country in producing it.
Comparative advantage
Buy goods that the country produces less efficiently from other countries and make those (specialize) in production of those goods produced more efficiently.
Benefit of comparative advantage
World production is greater with unrestricted free trade.
Factors of endowments
The extent to which a country is endowed with land, labor, and capital. The more abundant a factor the lower it’s cost.
Product life-cycle theory
As products mature both the location of sales and the optimal production location will change affecting the flow and direction of trade. Proposed by Ray Vernon mid 1960s.
Does the product life cycle theory hold?
The globalization and integration of the world economy has made this theory less valid today.
- Theory is ethnocentric
- Production today is dispersed globally
- Products today are introduced in multiple markets simultaneously
Economies of scale
Unit cost reductions associated with a large scale of output.
Balance of payments
A country’s balance of payments accounts keep track of the payments to and receipts from other countries for a particular time period.
- double entry bookkeeping
- sum of the current account balance, the capital account and the financial accnt should be zero.
What are the main accounts for the balance of payments?
Current account
Capital account
Financial account
Subsidy
A government payment to a domestic producer.
Forms of subsidies
Cash grants, low interest loan, tax breaks, and government equity participation in domestic firms.
Import quotas
Restriction on the quantity of a good that might be imported into a country.
Tariff rate quota
A lower tariff is applied to imports within the quota than those over the quota.
Effects of import tariffs
- Pro-producer and anti-consumer
2. Reduce the overall efficiency of the world economy.
What are the benefits of import tariffs?
Helps domestic producers:
- To compete against foreign imports
- To gain export markets
Administrative trade policies
Rules that make it difficult for imports to enter a country.
Strategic trade policy
When government can help raise national income if it can ensure that a domestic firm can gain first mover advantage in an industry rather than a foreign enterprise.
Dumping
Selling goods in a foreign market at below their costs of production or as selling goods in a foreign market at below their fair “market” value.
Political arguments for government intervention
- protecting jobs and industries
- national security
- retaliation
- protecting consumers
- furthering foreign policy objectives
- protecting human rights
- protecting the environment
Local content requirements
A requirement that some specific fraction of a good be produced domestically.
Economic arguments for intervention
- infant industry argument
- strategic trade policy
How has the current world trading system emerged?
Protectionism trends emerged:
- Japan’s perceived protectionist policies created intense political pressures in other countries.
- persistent trade deficits by the US
- use of non-tariff barriers increased.
What are two types of FDI?
- Greenfield investments
2. Acquisitions and mergers
Foreign Direct Investment
When a firm invests directly in facilities to produce or market a product in a foreign country.
Flow of FDI
The amount of FDI undertaken over a given time period. (normally a year)
Stocks of FDI
Total accumulated value of foreign owned assets at a given time.
Growth of FDI
- Fear of protectionism
- Political and economic changes
- New bilateral investments
- The globalization of the world economy
Where is FDI targeted towards?
Developed nations
Gross fixed capital formation
Summarizes the total amount of capital invested in factories, stores, office buildings, and the like.
Source of FDI
The US holds $2.4 billion in cumulative FDI outflows, 1998-2010. UK, Netherlands, Germany and Japan are other important countries.
Acquisitions versus greenfield investments
- Most cross-border investments is in the form of merges & acquisitions.
- In developing countries 75% of FDI is greenfield investments because fewer target companies.