Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth Island and unincorporated territory of the United States, was placed under a fiscal Oversight Board by the U.S. Congress in 2016. Unable to pay $72 billion it owes to bond holders, Puerto Rico’s Government and the Oversight Board filed for court proceedings under Title III of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act, similar to Chapter 9 of the US Bankruptcy code. The origens of the crisis in Puerto Rico have been attributed in part to the phase out of the IRS Section 936 tax exemption program for U.S. corporations from 1995 to 2005 and its elimination in January 2006. Using industry panel data, compiled from the IRS Statistics of Income for U.S. Possessions Corporations, the U.S. Economic Census for Outlying Areas, and the mainland U....

Bulgaria signed the Europe Association Agreement (EAA) in 1995 and the European Union accession treaty in 2005. Accession had the effect of increasing FDI in Bulgaria. We analyze World Bank BEEPS firm level data for 2007 to better understand characteristics and performance of foreign firms in Bulgaria. We estimate linear probability and logit models to determine the likelihood a firm is foreign in Bulgaria. Regressions show foreign manufacturing firms in Bulgaria are larger than domestic firms, have lower capital to labor ratios and are more likely to export. Foreign service sector firms are larger than domestic firms, have lower capital to labor ratios, are more likely to export and to locate in Sofia, the capital. Our analysis points to limited success of foreign firms in Bulgaria. Regr...

Published: Zadia M. Feliciano & Nadia Doytch, 2017. "EU accession and foreign-owned firms in Bulgaria," Post-Communist Economies, vol 29(3), pages 392-404. citation courtesy of

Using U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data for individual foreign acquisitions and new establishments in the U.S from 1988 to 1998, and aggregate data for 1980 to 1998, we find that acquisitions and establishments of new firms tend to occur in periods of high U.S. growth and take place mainly in industries in which the investing country has some comparative advantage in exporting. New establishments are largely in industries of U.S. comparative disadvantage, and the relation of U.S. comparative advantage to takeovers is also negative, but never significant. High U.S. stock prices, industry profitability, and industry growth discourage takeovers. High U.S interest rates and high investing country growth and currency values encourage takeovers. Direct investments in acquisitions and new...

Published: Zadia M Feliciano & Robert E Lipsey, 2017. "Foreign Entry into US Manufacturing by Takeovers and the Creation of New Firms," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 43(1), pages 1-16, January. citation courtesy of

Foreign-owned establishments in the United States pay higher wages, on average, than domestically-owned establishments. Much of the difference is related to industry composition, but there are also differences within industries within states, 5-7 percent in manufacturing and 9-10 percent in other industries. Within manufacturing, the difference can all be related to establishment, state, and industry characteristics, but in other industries, a substantial difference in average wages in favor of foreign establishments remains even when these other determinants of wages are taken into account. Within manufacturing, the extent of foreign ownership in an industry in a state had no impact on wages in 1987 when these other factors were taken into account, but it was associated with higher wage...

Published: Feliciano, Zadia M. and Robert E. Lipsey. "Foreign Ownerhsip, Wages, And Wage Changes In U.S. Industries, 1987-92," Contemporary Economic Policy, 2006, v24(1,Jan), 74-91.