We use micro data on affiliates to Swedish multinational firms (MNEs) to explore the impact of more stringent employment protection legislation (EPL) on foreign direct investment (FDI). We add to the previous literature by exploring the impact of EPL on the extensive as well as intensive margin, and by distinguishing the impact on different types of affiliates. We find that employment and exports in exporting affiliates decline with EPL, and MNEs establish fewer exporting affiliates. In contrast, employment and sales rise with EPL in purely “horizontal” affiliates. We discuss possible mechanisms explaining this sharp asymmetry.

中文翻译：

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重新探讨就业保护和外国直接投资：微观数据的新证据

我们使用瑞典跨国公司（MNEs）分支机构的微观数据来探索更严格的就业保护法规（EPL）对外国直接投资（FDI）的影响。通过探索EPL对广泛和密集利润率的影响，并区分对不同类型的会员的影响，我们增加了以前的文献。我们发现，随着EPL的出现，出口分支机构的就业和出口下降，而跨国公司建立的出口分支机构更少。相比之下，EPL在纯粹的“水平”分支机构中的就业和销售量增加。我们讨论了解释这种严重不对称性的可能机制。