Determinants of Intra-firm Trade: Evidence from Foreign Affiliates in Sub-Saharan Africa

By exploiting a unique sample of foreign affiliates in Sub-Saharan Africa, we study previously examined and unexamined firm-level determinants of intra-firm trade. We document that foreign affiliates engaging in intra-firm trade are relatively few and that the majority of these also engage in trade at arm's length, which accounts for an important fraction of their total trade. The identified firm-level determinants of intra-firm trade are consistent with property rights and intangible asset theories of the multinational firm, with international production hierarchy theories, as well as with theories of complex FDI and of multinational activity under credit constraints.