The choice between an international joint venture and a wholly-owned subsidiary in a developing country under technology spillover effects

A general equilibriumm model of a foreign multinational enterprise's decisions on establishing a wholly-owned subsidiary or forming a joint venture is built on firm-specific knowledge and plant-specific knowledge when there are intraindustry and interindustry technology spillovers. The welfare effects of a host developing country under closed economies, unrestricted foreign direct investment, and the policy of minimum local ownership requirements are compared. A developing country's worry is confirmed: Introduction of competition from foreign firms may not improve the welfare of the host country. However, the minimum local ownership requirement is Pareto-superior to a closed economy. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 1995multinational enterprises, joint ventures, wholly-owned subsidiaries, technology spillovers, minimum local ownership requirements,