Key Terms Flashcards
political costs of international business include
Incl cost of paying bribes or lobbying for favorable or fair treatment
economic costs of IB
Relates primarily to the sophistication of the economic system, incl infrastructure and supporting businesses
legal costs of IB
Different product, workplace, and pollution standards; or poor protection for property rights
Occur when it is more costly to do business in countries with dramatically different product, workplace, and pollution standards, or where there is poor legal protection for property rights
political risk of IB
Likelihood that political forces will cause drastic changes in a country’s business enviro that adversely affects the profit and other goals of a business enterprise
economic risk of IB
likelihood that Econ mismanagement cause changes that adversely affect the profit and other goals of a firm
(length: Likelihood that economic mismanagement will cause drastic changes in a country’s business enviro that adversely affect the profit and other goals of a business enterprise)
legal risk of IB
Likelihood that a trading partner will opportunistically break a contract or expropriate property rights
why do governments matter
Stability
Laws and regulations
Development
Taxation
Corruption, fairness
democracy
based on individualism, elected govt
totalitarianism
Various forms:
Communist, theocratic, tribal, right-wing
pseudo-democracies
-Lie between pure democracies and complete totalitarianism systems
-Authoritarian elements have captured some or much of the machinery of state and use this in an attempt to restrict political and civil liberties
market economy
Private ownership
Supply and demand
Govt encourages free and fair competition
command economy
State ownership
Govt planning determines production and pricing
Incentives become problematic
mixed economy
Mix of private and govt ownership
Supply and demand but also regulation
common law
Based on cumulative wisdom and judges decisions - differs from country to country
Eg, defective products
statutory law
Enacted by legislative action
Eg, legal fees
civil law
Most common type of legal system
Based on codification and detailed listings
religious law
Based on faith and practice of a particular religion “theocracy”
bureaucratic law
Law is what the bureaucrats say it is
sanctions
Restrictions against commerce
embargos
Comprehensive sanction against ALL commerce with a given country
dual use
Export controls for (usually) high tech
extraterritoriality
Regulate business outside borders
nationalization
Transfer of ownership from private to public
Expropriation - compensated
Confiscation - no compensations
repatriation
controls on return of profits to home country
property safety laws
Set certain standards to which a product must adhere
product liability
-Involves holding a firm and its officers responsible when a product causes, injury, death, or damage
-When product safety laws are stricter in a firm’s home country than in a foreign country, or when liability laws are more lax, the firm has to decide whether to adhere to home country or host country standards
domestically oriented laws
Foreign ownership restrictions
Health and Safety
Environment
Labour
Criminal and Civil Liability
Property Rights
intellectual property
Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks
IP laws exist, but enforcement is lax
IP protection limits access
IP protection creates opportunities
-Research and Development
-Protect inventors
tariff
Taxes on goods crossing national borders
Quotas
Quantitative limits on imports (or exports)
trade is also limited by
shipping costs, currency conversion, communication etc
mercantilism
-Country’s wealth is measured by holdings of gold and silver
-Nations should strive to maximize exports and minimize imports
-Policy implications
–Export subsidies
–Import restrictions (quotas, tariffs)
what’s wrong with mercantilism
David hume
-Balance of trade surplus leads to inflation
Adam smith
-Zero sum game
-Acquisition of treasure vs acquisition of wealth
Mercantilism actually harms a country
-Import restrictions lead to inefficiencies
-Benefit of voluntary exchanges
absolute advantage
-Adam smith: A country should export those goods and services for which it is more productive than other countries are and import those for which the opposite is true
-Both countries will be better off
comparative advantage
-Trade what can be produced most efficiently relative to other countries
-Compares opportunity costs rather than inputs required
-There is a mutual benefit to exchange when individuals have different opportunity costs
-Gains from specialization and trade are based on comparative advantage
-Causes total production in the economy to rise without adding additional resources
-Each benefits by obtaining a good/service at a price lower than their opportunity cost for that good
What determines the products for which a country will have a comparative advantage
-Productivity
-Factor endowments
-A country will have a comparative advantage in producing products that intensively use the resources (factors of production) it has in relative abundance
implications of new trade theory
-Nations may benefit from trade even when they do not differ in resource endowments or tech
A country may dominate the export of a good bc of first mover advantage
-Identifies a source of comparative advantage
-extension of the theory is the implication that governments could consider strategic trade policies that nurture and protect firms and industries where first mover advantages and economies of scale are important
why do we have international trade
-businesses and individuals believe they will be better off
-businesses use trade to globalize their markets and to facilitate the globalization of production
gains and losses of int trade
-aggregate gains from specialization and trade are greater than the losses
-but, gains and losses unevenly distributed
–creates lobby initiative and complex policy choices
–challenge of willingness of winners to compensate losers via redistribution policies
-also issues of security, sovereignty, nationalism, enviro protection, inequality
national comparative advantage: porter’s diamond
why does a nation achieve international success in a particular industry
-4 attributes of a nation shape the environment in which local firms compete
1. factor endowments
2. demand conditions
3. related and supporting industries
4. firm strategy, structure, and rivalry
Factor endowments: basic factors
Natural resources, climate, location, demographics
Factor endowments: advanced factors
-Specialized factors which are created and therefore both harder to imitate and more valuable
-Advanced factors are a product of investment by individuals, companies, and governments
Factor endowments: selective factor disadvantage
the absence of a basic factor that would be advantageous to have in abundance
demand conditions
-Large sophisticated domestic consumer base compels innovations and quality improvements
-Picky buyers are valuable when they demand produce attributes that are also appealing to foreign consumers