Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • 2010
  • Working Paper

Report on the State of Available Data for the Study of International Trade and Foreign Direct Investment

By: Robert C. Feenstra, Robert E. Lipsey, Lee G. Branstetter, C. Fritz Foley, James Harrigan, J. Bradford Jensen, Lori Kletzer, Catherine Mann, Peter K. Schott and Greg C. Wright
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
ShareBar

Abstract

This report, prepared for the Committee on Economic Statistics of the American Economic Association, examines the state of available data for the study of international trade and foreign direct investment. Data on values of imports and exports of goods are of high quality and coverage, but price data suffer from insufficient detail. It would be desirable to have more data measuring value-added in trade as well as prices of comparable domestic and imported inputs. Value data for imports and exports of services are too aggregated and valuations are questionable, while price data for service exports and imports are almost non-existent. Foreign direct investment data are of high quality, but quality has suffered from budget cuts. Data on trade in intellectual property are fragmentary. The intangibility of the trade makes measurement difficult, but budget cuts have added to the difficulties. Modest funding increases would result in data more useful for research and policy analysis.

Keywords

Trade; Foreign Direct Investment; Price; Globalization; Policy; Information; Intellectual Property

Citation

Feenstra, Robert C., Robert E. Lipsey, Lee G. Branstetter, C. Fritz Foley, James Harrigan, J. Bradford Jensen, Lori Kletzer, Catherine Mann, Peter K. Schott, and Greg C. Wright. "Report on the State of Available Data for the Study of International Trade and Foreign Direct Investment." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 16254, August 2010.
  • Read Now

About The Author

C. Fritz Foley

Finance
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • January 2023
    • Faculty Research

    MicroStrategy’s Investment in Bitcoin

    By: C. Fritz Foley, Celine Chammas and Donal O'Cofaigh
    • February 2022
    • Faculty Research

    MicroStrategy's Investment in Bitcoin Excel Supplement

    By: C. Fritz Foley
    • February 2022 (Revised March 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    MicroStrategy's Investment in Bitcoin

    By: C. Fritz Foley
More from the Authors
  • MicroStrategy’s Investment in Bitcoin By: C. Fritz Foley, Celine Chammas and Donal O'Cofaigh
  • MicroStrategy's Investment in Bitcoin Excel Supplement By: C. Fritz Foley
  • MicroStrategy's Investment in Bitcoin By: C. Fritz Foley
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College