Firm heterogeneity, foreign market entry mode and ownership choice

We study the relationship between firm productivity, foreign market entry mode and affiliate ownership choice using Kolmogorov-Smirnov stochastic dominance tests on Japanese firm-level productivity and horizontal FDI data into 20 OECD countries during the period 1985-2001. We devote particular attention to different types of joint ventures to find that affiliate ownership increases with the parent firm's TFP.