Explaining the EU - ASEAN intra-industry trade through Japanese foreign direct investment: The case of high-tech industries

Although the reasons why firms choose to invest in the world's different geographical regions are by now well documented, what is less known is the nature and extent of the interdependency of trade between, on the one hand, subsidiaries of firms located in the same geographical regions and, on the other, trade between these susidiaries and those located in other geographical regions. This study analyses the role Japanese foreign direct investment (FDI) plays in enhancing intra-industry and interregional trade and finds support for the thesis that it is of significance.