In this paper we build on the liability of foreignness concept and the institutional perspective to show how an equity listing and subsidiary formations in the host market are interlinked. Using a matched sample of foreign equity-listed and domestic equity-listed European firms on EU-regulated capital markets, we find that (1) the number of prior host-market subsidiary formations increases the probability of a host-market equity listing, and (2) a prior host-market equity listing increases the number of host-market subsidiary formations. Hence, we identify spillover effects between factor market and capital market strategies. However, the extent of these spillover effects depends on institutional characteristics of the host market, where companies on smaller markets gain higher spillover effects. We contribute to international management and finance research by providing factor market strategies as a valuable source to overcome capital market liabilities of foreignness and capital market strategies as a valuable source to overcome factor market liabilities of foreignness.

In this dissertation, I explore how economic decisions diverge for different age groups. Two essays address the location decisions of older households while the third examines why different age cohorts donate to charities. The first essay estimates how the age distribution of the population across cities will change as the number of older adults rises. I use a residential sorting model to estimate the location preference heterogeneity between younger and older households. I then simulate where the two household types will live in 2030. All MSAs end up with a higher proportion of older households in 2030, and only eight of 243 MSAs experience a decline in the number of older households. The results suggest that MSAs in upstate New York and on the west coast, particularly in California, will have the largest number of older households in 2030. Florida will remain a popular place for older households, but its relative importance may diminish in the future. The second essay explores whether the basic motivations for charitable giving differ by age cohort. Using the results from a randomized field experiment, I test whether benefits to self or benefits to others drives the charitable giving decision for each age cohort. I find limited heterogeneity for benefits to self. Individuals between the ages of 50 and 64 increase average donations more than any other age cohort in response to emphasizing warm glow, and this heterogeneity is exclusively driven by larger conditional gifts. The third essay is preliminary joint work with H. Spencer Banzhaf and Carlianne Patrick. We build a unique data set of local homestead exemptions, which vary by generosity and eligibility requirements, for tax jurisdictions in Georgia. Using school-district-level Census data since 1970 along with the history of such exemptions, we will explore the impact of these exemptions, particularly exemptions targeting older households, on the demographic makeup of each jurisdiction and consider the impact of these laws on the relative levels of housing capital consumed by older and younger households.

This paper analyses the role of the spatial structure of migrant networks in the location decision of migrants to the European Union at the regional level. Using a random parameters logit specification, a significant positive effect of migrant networks in neighbouring regions on migrants' location decisions is found. Although this spatial spillover effect is smaller than the effect of networks in the host regions, omitting to control for this spatial dependence results in a 40% overestimation of the effect of regional migrant networks on the location decision of newly arriving migrants.

This report is the result of a master thesis with a focus on risk analysis of production location decisions. The project is a part of “PROLOC-manufacturing footprint during the product’s life cycle”. The main aim of this thesis is to point out how current applicable risk analysis techniques evaluate the risks involved in production location decisions and then underline the most important risks involved in production location decisions and elicit strengths and weaknesses of these methods.A systematic review of literature with a focus on journal papers of risk analysis and production fields is conducted by using the content analysis and coding technique. The current risk analysis techniques identified are failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), life cycle cost (LCC) analysis, and system based techniques like multiobjective analysis, decision tree analysis, and analytic hierarchy process (AHP). In addition two identified frameworks of foreign direct investment (FDI) and international production are the research fields that have contributed extensively in identifying various risks of production location decisions.Having reviewed the literature, it is realized that majority of companies take a short sighted vision in choosing production location and consider just cost based issues like cheaper raw material and low labour cost in some countries and simply ignore uncertainties that can be sources of political, economic, social, competitive, and seismic risks. Low cost countries are usually situated in politically instable areas that can cause long production halts or expropriation. Political risk is mainly identified in FDI literature and is usually triggered by a political turmoil, coup d’état, or revolution. On the other hand cheap labour does not necessarily mean decrease in costs and might bring about quality issues and damage company prestige among customers which results in time and monetary loss. Currency exchange and inflation in costs often causes the initial forecast and cost analysis go wrong. Supply risks are because of disruption of ties with raw material or part suppliers in home country and might result in risk of misuse by new suppliers or partners. Also the seismic risk is introduced as a separate category of risks of production location decisions which can be considered a matter of more investigation and requires further research.The study also presents a review of strengths and weaknesses of existing risk analysis techniques of production location decisions. The lack of consistency, vagueness of information, unfamiliarity with design to cost concept are among the major weaknesses of risk analysis techniques of production location decisions. The study concludes with the fact that just considering the cost oriented factors like cheap labour and raw material by production companies exposed them to various risk and might make the whole investment in vain. Suggestions for further study on techniques and risks of production location decisions are also proposed.

Inom EU har det sedan länge funnits en strävan att harmonisera skattesatser gällande moms mellan medlemsländerna. För 2015 har en ny momsregel trätt i kraft med syftet att långsiktigt skapa en mer rättvis konkurrens på marknaden inom EU. Motivet bakom regeln bottnar i s.k. strategisk momsplacering, vilket många storföretag inom IT ägnat sig åt. Företag har lokaliserat försäljningsverksamheter i länder där momssatserna varit väldigt låga och därmed kraftigt kunnat hålla nere skatteinbetalningarna. Med den nya regeln förändras regelverket gällande inbetalning av moms vid försäljning av elektroniska varor och tjänster till privatpersoner. Vid fortsatt försäljning av dessa varor ska moms betalas in till det land där konsumenten är bosatt. Den här studien har utifrån statistisk sekundärdata av omsättningsnivåer för relevant bransch, sökt finna ett samband mellan omsättning och valda variabler utifrån premisserna för den nya momsregeln. Detta har genomförts för ett urval av Europeiska länder. De mest framhävande analyserna har berört momssatsernas påverkan på dessa omsättningsnivåer. En tydlig ståndpunkt bakom motivet för den nya momslagen är att företagens lokaliseringsbeslut tidigare bestämts utefter momssatser. Med hjälp av ekonometrisk teori och regressionsanalyser har detta påstående försökts bemötas på bästa möjliga sätt. Resultaten från denna studie pekar på att ett sådant samband funnits. Lokaliseringsbeslut för företag som säljer ovannämnda varor och tjänster har påverkats av momssatser. Motivet bakom regeln går att styrka utifrån resultaten av denna studie. Samtliga omsättningsnivåer för undersökta länder har uppvisat ett statistiskt signifikant beroende av momssatser för undersökta perioder. / For a long time there has been an ambition to harmonize VAT rates among the member states within the EU. In 2015, a new VAT rule was introduced in order to realize this ambition and create a fairer competition within the market of EU. This new rule has been introduced due to strategically decisions made by companies dealing with VAT. Sales activities of larger corporations have been located in countries within the EU where the VAT rates have been very low, and thereby been able to pay low taxes. Along with the new VAT rule, the rules of payment with VAT concerning sales of electronic goods and services to individuals will change. VAT due to sales activities of these goods will be paid to the country of the consumer. This study has by statistical secondary data of relevant business tried to find a connection of the premises of this new VAT rule and turnover levels by a selection of European countries. Analyzes which concerns VAT, especially VAT rates in the different countries has been of major interest to analyze in this study. The new rule clearly state that corporation selling electronic goods today decide the location of sales activities with respect to VAT rates, and in this study that statement has been investigated with help of econometrical theory and regression analysis. The results of this study did indicate that such a link exists. The location decisions made by these companies are determined along with VAT rates. Therefore the motive behind the rule is justified based on the results of this study. The turnover levels for each country have all shown a statistically significant dependent of VAT rates for the investigated time periods.

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This research investigates the location choices of gaming industry in Malmö, focusing on factors influencing both small and large firms. Through eight semi-structured interviews and analysis of media archive documents, the research explored the twofold nature of location decisions: the choice of Malmö as a city and the selection of specific locations within Malmö. This study shows that gaming firms consider a combination of hard and soft location factors when choosing to locate in Malmö. Key hard factors include the presence of a strong gaming community, access to high-skilled talent, proximity to other gaming companies, proximity to Copenhagen airport, and public investments from the city and region. The primary soft factor identified is the cultural aspects of the city. Personal connections the founders of the firms had with Malmö played a significant role in the location decisions of small firms. Furthermore, the study highlights differences in location preferences between small and large gaming firms when choosing a specific location within Malmö. Small firms prioritized hard location factors such as affordable office space over soft location factors while big firms prioritized soft location factors such as quality of the building and the size of office space to accommodate the employees over hard location factors. This study contributes to the understanding of location choices in the gaming industry and underscores the importance of tailoring urban development strategies to accommodate the diverse needs of gaming firms. By recognizing the distinct preferences of small and large firms, policymakers can implement targeted interventions to foster a conducive environment for gaming industry growth in Malmö and beyond. Future research should explore comparative analyses across cities to gain broader insights into industry dynamics and inform tailored strategies for urban development in gaming cities.

Since the mid-1990s, countries offering tax systems that facilitate international tax avoidance and evasion have been facing growing political pressure to comply with the internationally agreed standards of exchange of tax information. Using data of German investments in tax havens, we find evidence that the conclusion of a bilateral tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) is associated with fewer operations in tax havens and the number of German affiliates has on average decreased by 46% compared to a control group. This suggests that firms invest in tax havens not only for their low tax rates but also for the secrecy they offer. (authors' abstract) / Series: WU International Taxation Research Paper Series

This master’s thesis examines how the density of food-based businesses in New England’s post-industrial urban neighborhoods relates to neighborhood demographic characteristics. The relationship between food-based businesses and demographic change has been examined in larger metropolitan areas like New York City and Chicago and has found that younger, wealthier, and more highly educated residents tend to live where there are greater densities of food businesses. However, there has been little research on the topic in New England’s post-industrial cities that have historically struggled to attract highly sought knowledge workers. I find that food business density and the share of residents employed in creative class professions is positively correlated in most cases; however, over time, the share of creative class workers and food businesses per capita has a negative relationship. Additionally, the share of residents living below the poverty line and food business densities have a significant and positive relationship. Neighborhood racial composition is a less significant factor, overall. In sum, the findings from this study suggest that food business density and creative class populations have a more nuanced relationship in regional post-industrial cities compared to larger metropolitan areas.

During the last two decades, many companies have reshored their manufacturing operations to the home country, reversing previous offshoring decisions. Reshoring is a strategic decision for manufacturing companies because it is costly, complex, dynamic; thus, it is an important topic for research. Nevertheless, there is a research gap in how the reshoring decision-making process is modeled. Therefore, the overall purpose of this research is to increase the understanding of the reshoring decision-making process. The purpose is fulfilled through two research questions: (1) what is the state-of-the-art of reshoring decision-making process? and (2) how the reshoring decision-making process can be explored using a system dynamics model? The research design includes a literature review, modeling, and an expert interview.  The findings indicate that the state-of-the-art of reshoring decision-making process comprises the drivers, barriers, and other factors are variables that motivate or hinder reshoring decision-making. However, their behavior varies over time and context. Environment and sustainability topics are not completely neglected in the decision-making process. Nevertheless, they are not a priority in reshoring decisions. The developed system dynamics model identifies relationships between the variables of reshoring decisions and how one variable can have a cause-and-effect relationship with another. During modeling of the reshoring decision-making, the complexity considerably increases as more variables are considered in the model. The developed system dynamics model provides a holistic view of the variables, their relationships, dynamics, and the overall complexity of the reshoring decision-making process.  The research has implications for researchers because it increases the understanding of reshoring decision-making concerning the variables involved and relationships among them. Furthermore, this research contributes to the overall topic of reshoring by addressing modeling aspects. The research has implications for practitioners because it contributes to increasing the practitioners’ visualization of the decision-making, which can be used to communicate with various stakeholders. In order to advance this highly relevant field, it is recommended to quantify relationships among the variables that the developed system dynamic model can be simulated.