← Search

Journal of Banking & Finance Vol. 163 2024

Does policy uncertainty travel across borders? Evidence from MNC subsidiary investment decisions

Xi Zhou1; Min Xiao2; Huiying Wu3; Jiaxing You2

1 Sun Yat‐Sen University · 2 Xiamen University · 3 Western Sydney University

Abstract

Using a large-scale proprietary data set from China, we examine the cross-border transmission of policy uncertainty within multinational corporations (MNCs). Our results show that policy uncertainty in MNCs’ home countries negatively affects the capital investment of their foreign subsidiaries. Our analyses of cross-sectional heterogeneity reveal that the effect is strengthened by subsidiary-level investment irreversibility and the dependence of subsidiaries on parent firms, and weakened by bilateral meetings and psychic closeness between the home and host countries. Together these findings suggest that policy uncertainty travels across borders and has a spillover effect on foreign subsidiary investment.

DOI
10.1016/j.jbankfin.2024.107195
Volume
163
Pages
107195
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

Cite