In addition to the BSOBA, we used a different data source for intra-firm trade. We conducted a unique survey of Japanese firms to collect information on intra-firm trade distinguishing intra- firm trade in goods, technology, and other services. This appendix summarizes the main results from the survey “Survey of Global Activities of Japanese Firms,” which was conducted by RIETI for our research project (hereafter abbreviated as “RIETI survey” for short). More detailed descriptions of the survey are given in Tomiura et al. (2017) in Japanese.
We designed the sample to cover all Japanese firms owning at least one majority-owned foreign affiliate in manufacturing as well as in the wholesale and retail sectors. We selected the sample based on the comprehensive commercial dataset provided by Toyo Keizai Inc.26 Our questionnaires were distributed to 3,291 MNE parent firms, from which we collected responses from 828 firms (25% of the contracted firms) from February to March 2016. We asked firms to report their experiences in the year 2015.
In the survey, we asked whether each firm was involved in intra-firm trade (asking about exports and imports separately). What we learned from the survey about intra-firm trade regarded extensive margins (a binary choice), not intensive margins ( the value or share of intra-firm trade).
One advantage of this survey over BSOBA, however, was that we asked about the firm’s engagement in intra-firm trade separately in goods, technology, and other services. We also disaggregated intra-firm trade into: (i) trade between overseas affiliates and their parents in Japan;
(ii) trade between overseas affiliates owned by the same parent company within the same host country; and (iii) trade between overseas affiliates owned by the same parent company located in different countries. Destinations/sources were classified into six region groups (China,
26 The population of the RIETI survey is hence different from that of the BSOBA. Toyo Keizai constructs its database from wide number of information sources, including press coverage.
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Korea/Taiwan, ASEAN, North America, Europe, and the Rest of the World), though the individual country was not identified except for China. As BSOBA merged intra-firm trade in goods with services and did not cover trade between affiliates in its recent rounds, we were able to collect previously unavailable information in our RIETI survey. We distributed our questionnaires to MNE parents and asked about intra-firm trade with affiliates owned by the parents. In contrast to affiliate-level BSOBA data, our corporate-level data from the RIETI survey did not allow us to identify which individual affiliate was involved in intra-firm trade.
The survey results displayed in Tables B1 to B6 confirm that only a small fraction of firms are active in intra-firm trade, but we further find that trade in services is especially limited. A non- negligible share of offshore affiliates trades services with unaffiliated firms within the same country, but the cross-border service trade is severely limited. The overwhelming share of intra- firm trade in technology is between affiliates and their parents.
Table B7 combines the RIETI survey results in these different categories of intra-firm trade.
We find that, when a parent exports technology or other services to its affiliates, the same parent often exports goods to its affiliates as well. Although we cannot identify individual affiliates within the RIETI survey, intra-firm trade in goods and intra-firm trade in services are likely to be complementary at least at the corporate level.
We also link the RIETI survey results with firm-level data drawn from METI’s official statistics in BSJBSA to explore how intra-firm trade with the parent firm is related to the parents’
attributes. Here the regressions based on corporate-level data from BSJBSA focus on the characteristics of parents, while the regressions reported in the main text of this paper analyze the relationship with the characteristics of affiliates based on the affiliate-level data from BSOBA.
Tables B8, B9, and B10 report the results of the regression with intra-firm trade using trade in goods, services, and technology as the dependent variable. As indicated in Table B7, intra-firm
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trade in goods tends to be related positively with the capital-labor ratio but negatively with advertising intensity, especially in the machinery industry where Japanese multinationals are most active. In Table B8, intra-firm trade in technology is related to the capital-labor ratio positively for imports from parents but negatively for exports to parents. Table B9 shows that intra-firm trade in other services is negatively related to advertising intensity but positively related to the size of parents and their number of products. While some of these findings are informative and in line with our prior expectations, we should note that these regressions based on the RIETI survey are at the MNE corporate level without controls for affiliate characteristics.
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Table B1. Share of intra-firm exports of goods by destination (%)
Table B2. Share of intra-firm imports of goods by origin (%)
Table B3. Share of intra-firm exports of technologies by destination (%)
China Korea
Taiwan ASEAN North
America Europe Others
Parent firm 23.57 21.15 22.50 14.00 12.94 14.62
Other affiliates in the same country 11.40 3.63 5.93 5.17 4.94 5.19 Other firms in the same country 33.90 41.09 31.85 40.67 33.65 43.40 Other affiliates in other countries 10.09 11.48 11.76 11.50 12.00 9.91 Other firms in the other countries 11.94 12.39 18.98 20.00 27.29 14.62
Other affiliates in Japan 3.39 3.63 2.96 2.83 2.82 2.83
Other firms in Japan 4.16 1.81 3.61 2.00 1.88 1.89
None 1.54 4.83 2.41 3.83 4.47 7.55
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Location of affiliates Export destination
China Korea
Taiwan ASEAN North
America Europe Others
Parent firm 28.45 29.34 26.81 30.06 28.64 26.41
Other affiliates in the same country 9.92 4.34 5.87 5.06 5.91 4.93 Other firms in the same country 29.61 24.23 24.85 22.77 20.68 25.35 Other affiliates in other countries 7.83 12.24 11.66 14.43 16.36 15.49 Other firms in the other countries 10.31 11.73 16.60 12.05 14.77 12.32
Other affiliates in Japan 3.88 5.61 3.74 4.46 5.00 4.23
Other firms in Japan 6.59 7.14 7.91 5.51 3.64 3.87
None 3.41 5.36 2.55 5.65 5.00 7.39
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Location of affiliates Import origin
China Korea
Taiwan ASEAN North
America Europe Others
Parent firm 7.83 4.44 7.69 6.62 5.74 3.33
Other affiliates in the same country 2.14 0.56 0.42 0.95 0.96 1.33
Other firms in the same country 2.49 1.67 2.70 2.52 2.87 4.00
Other affiliates in other countries 1.60 3.33 0.83 3.79 2.87 0.67 Other firms in the other countries 1.07 0.56 1.87 1.26 1.91 0.67
Other affiliates in Japan 0.36 0.00 0.62 1.26 0.48 0.00
Other firms in Japan 0.53 0.00 0.21 0.95 0.48 0.67
None 83.99 89.44 85.65 82.65 84.69 89.33
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Location of affiliates Destination of technology transfer
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Table B4. Share of intra-firm imports of technologies by origin (%)
Table B5. Share of intra-firm exports of other services by destination (%)
Table B6. Share of intra-firm imports of other services by origin (%)
China Korea
Taiwan ASEAN North
America Europe Others
Parent firm 29.01 23.53 31.41 23.31 18.87 20.51
Other affiliates in the same country 1.19 0.53 0.80 0.31 0.47 0.64
Other firms in the same country 1.19 1.60 1.39 2.15 1.89 1.28
Other affiliates in other countries 1.54 0.53 1.39 1.23 0.94 0.00 Other firms in the other countries 1.02 1.07 1.39 1.84 1.42 0.64
Other affiliates in Japan 2.22 1.60 2.39 2.15 2.83 1.92
Other firms in Japan 1.19 0.53 2.19 1.53 1.42 1.92
None 62.63 70.59 59.05 67.48 72.17 73.08
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Location of affiliates Source of technology transfer
China Korea
Taiwan ASEAN North
America Europe Others
Parent firm 12.28 11.56 10.53 11.17 10.29 11.04
Other affiliates in the same country 3.99 1.01 2.26 3.15 3.29 3.07 Other firms in the same country 8.77 10.55 9.96 10.89 12.35 9.20 Other affiliates in other countries 2.39 3.52 3.57 2.87 4.53 4.29 Other firms in the other countries 2.23 2.51 3.57 4.30 6.58 3.07
Other affiliates in Japan 1.12 2.01 0.94 0.57 1.23 0.61
Other firms in Japan 0.80 0.50 0.94 0.86 1.65 1.23
None 68.42 68.34 68.23 66.19 60.08 67.48
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Destination of service export Location of affiliates
China Korea
Taiwan ASEAN North
America Europe Others
Parent firm 16.32 16.24 16.12 19.38 16.88 14.86
Other affiliates in the same country 3.88 0.51 1.83 1.69 2.11 2.86 Other firms in the same country 16.64 19.80 17.95 22.47 21.10 21.71 Other affiliates in other countries 0.97 1.02 2.38 1.69 3.38 3.43 Other firms in the other countries 0.81 1.02 2.56 2.25 3.80 2.29
Other affiliates in Japan 0.97 1.52 1.47 0.84 0.84 1.14
Other firms in Japan 1.45 2.03 2.38 1.97 2.53 2.86
None 58.97 57.87 55.31 49.72 49.37 50.86
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source of service import Location of affiliates
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Table B7. Relationship between trade in goods, services, and technologies
Relationship between trade in goods and trade in services
Panel A Manufacturing Wholesale and Retail
Service export to parent firm Service export to parent firm
No Yes Total No Yes Total
No 503 74 577 163 33 196
Yes 376 76 452 135 29 164
Total 879 150 1,029 298 62 360
Panel B Manufacturing Wholesale and Retail
Service import from parent firm Service import from parent firm
No Yes Total No Yes Total
No 258 35 293 111 14 125
Yes 553 178 731 170 69 239
Total 811 213 1,024 281 83 364
Relationship between trade in goods and trade in technology
Panel C Manufacturing Wholesale and Retail
Technology import from parent firm Technology import from parent firm
No Yes Total No Yes Total
No 395 179 574 174 22 196
Yes 239 213 452 147 19 166
Total 634 392 1,026 321 41 362
Panel D Manufacturing Wholesale and Retail
Technology import from parent firm Technology import from parent firm
No Yes Total No Yes Total
No 235 58 293 117 7 124
Yes 398 334 732 206 34 240
Total 633 392 1,025 323 41 364
Panel E Manufacturing Wholesale and Retail
Technology export to parent firm Technology export to parent firm
No Yes Total No Yes Total
No 539 32 571 191 3 194
Yes 393 57 450 149 14 163
Total 932 89 1,021 340 17 357
Panel F Manufacturing Wholesale and Retail
Technology export to parent firm Technology export to parent firm
No Yes Total No Yes Total
No 279 16 295 120 4 124
Yes 653 74 727 222 13 235
Total 932 90 1,022 342 17 359
Export of goods to parent firm
Import of goods from parent firm Export of goods to
parent firm
Import of goods from parent firm
Export of goods to parent firm
Import of goods from parent firm
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Table B8. Intra-firm trade and parent firm characteristics: Trade in goods
Note: Standard errors in parentheses are clustered at the industry-level. Industry and region fixed effects are included. *,** and *** indicate statistical significance at the 10%, 5%, and 1% levels.
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16)
VARIABLES Sub-sample
ln(N of employee) 0.0254 0.0213 0.0245 -0.0157 0.0252 0.0244 0.0234 -0.0129 0.0243 0.0244 0.0235 0.0136 0.0457 0.0379 0.0460 0.0451 (0.0282) (0.0230) (0.0283) (0.0282) (0.0417) (0.0401) (0.0467) (0.0446) (0.0289) (0.0257) (0.0290) (0.0258) (0.0461) (0.0417) (0.0450) (0.0375)
R&D / Sales -0.323 -0.319 0.177 -0.0210 0.106 0.519 0.161 0.0964 -0.00293 -0.828** -0.854*** -0.922*
(0.648) (0.648) (0.605) (0.845) (0.956) (0.954) (0.550) (0.520) (0.579) (0.344) (0.321) (0.490)
Advertising expenses / Sales -0.754** -0.751** -0.569* -26.39*** -26.50*** -20.12*** 3.818 3.741 3.822 5.206 5.939 5.501
(0.341) (0.347) (0.302) (2.069) (2.336) (1.727) (2.691) (2.521) (2.637) (6.981) (6.709) (7.484)
ln(Capital / Labor) -0.00755 -0.00952 -0.00674 -0.0141 -0.0482 -0.0414 -0.0424 -0.0488 0.0439 0.0432 0.0426 0.0397 0.0763*** 0.0676** 0.0753** 0.0751**
(0.0382) (0.0415) (0.0383) (0.0442) (0.0421) (0.0481) (0.0394) (0.0505) (0.0279) (0.0277) (0.0278) (0.0288) (0.0270) (0.0334) (0.0295) (0.0293) N of products 0.0229 0.0258 0.0255 0.0245* 0.0255 0.0250* 0.0253** 0.0217*** 0.0476** 0.0455* 0.0455* 0.0392* 0.00505 0.00812 0.00530 0.00419 (0.0148) (0.0165) (0.0162) (0.0131) (0.0178) (0.0143) (0.0117) (0.00536) (0.0241) (0.0242) (0.0240) (0.0222) (0.0115) (0.0121) (0.0124) (0.0155)
N of affiliate firms for production 0.0948*** 0.0991** 0.00481 -0.00299
(0.0196) (0.0395) (0.0118) (0.00394)
N of affiliate firms for wholesale -0.0278* -0.0253 0.0292 0.00754
(0.0159) (0.0269) (0.0278) (0.0209)
Observations 996 996 996 996 548 548 548 548 1,014 1,014 1,014 1,014 549 549 549 549
Machinery industry Import of goods Export of goods
Manufacturing
Export of goods Machinery industry
Import of goods Manufacturing
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Table B9. Intra-firm trade and parent firm characteristics: Trade in technology
Note: See notes for Table B8.
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16)
VARIABLES Sub-sample
ln(N of employee) 0.0188 0.0158 0.0187 0.00203 0.0140 0.0121 0.0139 -0.00815 0.0550* 0.0543** 0.0547* 0.0144 0.0506 0.0539 0.0496 0.0250 (0.0197) (0.0175) (0.0196) (0.0145) (0.0270) (0.0255) (0.0268) (0.0107) (0.0321) (0.0257) (0.0316) (0.0310) (0.0554) (0.0438) (0.0535) (0.0510)
R&D / Sales -0.309 -0.307 -0.247 -0.209 -0.194 -0.0737 -0.0704 -0.0354 0.140 0.370 0.418 0.455
(0.323) (0.323) (0.328) (0.135) (0.123) (0.285) (0.747) (0.742) (0.638) (0.974) (0.955) (0.900)
Advertising expenses / Sales -0.229 -0.221 -0.145 -2.155 -1.933 -0.763 -2.355 -2.343 -2.096 -8.273 -8.722 -7.202
(0.233) (0.234) (0.224) (6.663) (6.599) (4.802) (1.945) (2.079) (1.668) (6.295) (6.770) (7.278)
ln(Capital / Labor) -0.0306***-0.0329***-0.0304***-0.0345*** -0.0238** -0.0250*** -0.0232*** -0.0307* 0.0294 0.0293 0.0296 0.0187 0.0774** 0.0827* 0.0789** 0.0723*
(0.00673) (0.00569) (0.00662) (0.00776) (0.0101) (0.00864) (0.00873) (0.0162) (0.0280) (0.0321) (0.0282) (0.0282) (0.0354) (0.0432) (0.0376) (0.0436) N of products 0.000282 0.000818 0.000904 -0.00237 0.0110 0.0115 0.0110 0.00914 -0.00852 -0.00515 -0.00519 -0.0117 -0.0336* -0.0343** -0.0331* -0.0391***
(0.0125) (0.0129) (0.0127) (0.0134) (0.0153) (0.0153) (0.0151) (0.0137) (0.0177) (0.0177) (0.0180) (0.0173) (0.0193) (0.0164) (0.0183) (0.00804)
N of affiliate firms for production 0.0275*** 0.0400*** 0.0803** 0.0559
(0.00717) (0.00543) (0.0350) (0.0616)
N of affiliate firms for wholesale -0.000541 -0.00642 0.0105 0.00414
(0.00603) (0.00463) (0.0167) (0.0258)
Observations 934 934 934 934 549 549 549 549 1,027 1,027 1,027 1,027 546 546 546 546
Technology export Technology export Technology import Technology import
Manufacturing Machinery industry Manufacturing Machinery industry