Total Factor Productivity, Foreign Direct Investment, and Entry Barriers in the Chinese Automotive Industry

We explore three questions on foreign direct investment (FDI): (1) What are the differences in entry barriers for foreign, public, and private investors? (2) What are the effects of past productivity levels on future foreign direct investment (FDI) decisions? (3) What is the effect of equity structure on future total factor productivity (TFP) levels? The empirical results based on a monopolistic competition model and using a firm-level data set from the Chinese automobile industry suggest that foreign investors face higher entry barriers and react stronger to past TFP levels. FDI is also found to improve future TFP more than other forms of investment. Finally, World Trade Organization (WTO) accession is found to reduce entry barriers for foreign and domestic private investors while increasing entry barriers for public investors.