Headquarter Services and Revealed Factor Abundance

Abstract

This paper analyzes how usual measures of revealed factor abundance (RFA), based on trade in merchandise, are affected by the existence of trade in services of intangible assets; trade that is mainly associated with multinational firms. It presents empirical estimates of both usual measures of RFA and new measures that take account of trade in headquarter services for the United States, a country that has a substantial surplus in the recorded components of such trade. It is found that the usual measures underestimate the abundance of highly skilled labor and technological knowledge, and overestimate the abundance of physical capital.

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