SOLUTION i l MANUAL i l FOR
International ilFinancial ilManagement, il10th ilEdition
EUNC
il il hapter il1-21
CHAPTER il1
GLOBALIZATION ilAND ilTHE ilMULTINATIONAL ilFIRM
ANSWERS & SOLUTIONS TO END-OF-CHAPTER QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
QUESTIONS
1. Why ilis ilit ilimportant ilto ilstudy ilinternational ilfinancial ilmanagement?
Answer: ilWe ilare ilnow illiving ilin ila ilworld ilwhere ilall ilthe ilmajor ileconomic ilfunctions, ilsuch ilas
ilconsumption, ilproduction, ilinvestment, iland ilfinancing, ilare ilhighly ilglobalized. il il ilIt ilis ilthus
ilessential ilfor ilfinancial ilmanagers ilto ilfully ilunderstand ilvital ilinternational ildimensions ilof
il financial ilmanagement. ilThis ilglobal ilshift ilis ilin ilmarked ilcontrast ilto ila ilsituation ilthat ilexisted
ilwhen ilthe ilauthors ilof ilthis ilbook ilwere illearning ilfinance ila ilfew ildecades ilago. ilAt ilthat iltime,
ilmost ilprofessors ilcustomarily il(and ilsafely, ilto ilsome ilextent) ilignored ilinternational ilaspects ilof
ilfinance. il il ilThis ilmode ilof iloperation ilhas ilbecome iluntenable ilsince ilthen.
2. How ilis ilinternational ilfinancial ilmanagement ildifferent ilfrom ildomestic ilfinancial ilmanagement?
Answer: ilThere ilare ilthree ilmajor ildimensions ilthat ilset ilapart ilinternational ilfinance ilfrom
ildomesticfil inance. ilThey ilare:
1. foreign ilexchange iland ilpolitical ilrisks,
2. market ilimperfections, iland
3. expanded ilopportunity ilset.
3. Discuss ilthe ilmajor iltrends ilthat ilhave ilprevailed ilin ilinternational ilbusiness ilduring ilthe
illast iltwod
il ecades.
Answer: ilThe il2000s ilbrought ila ilrapid ilintegration ilof ilinternational ilcapital iland ilfinancial
ilmarkets. ilImpetus ilfor ilglobalized ilfinancial ilmarkets ilinitially ilcame ilfrom ilthe ilgovernments
ilof ilmajor ilcountriestil hat ilhad ilbegun ilto ilderegulate iltheir ilforeign ilexchange iland ilcapital
ilmarkets. ilThe ileconomic
©MCGRAW ilHILL ilLLC. ilALL ilRIGHTS ilRESERVED. ilNO ilREPRODUCTION ilOR ilDISTRIBUTION ilWITHOUT ilTHE ilPRIOR ilWRITTEN ilCONSENT
ilOF ilMCGRAW ilHILL ilLLC
,integration iland ilglobalization ilthat ilbegan ilin ilthe ileighties iland ilnineties ilare ilpicking ilup
ilspeed ilin ilthe2
il 000s. ilTrade illiberalization iland ileconomic ilintegration ilcontinued ilto ilproceed
ilat ilboth ilthe ilregional iland ilglobal illevels. ilDespite ilsovereign ildebt ilcrisis ilin ilEurope, ilmore
ilEU ilmember ilcountries ilhave iladopted ilthe ilcommon ilcurrency, ilthe ileuro, ilthat ileffectively
ilbecame ilthe ilsecond ilglobal ilcurrency ilafter ilthe ilU.S. ildollar. ilIn ilthe illast ilfew ilyears,
ilhowever, ileconomic ilnationalism ilhas ilbeen ilgaining ilsome ilpopularity, ilas ilexemplified ilby
ilthe ilBrexit ildecision ilof ilthe ilUnited ilKingdom iland ilthe ilso-called
―America ilFirst‖ ilpolicies ilof ilthe ilTrump ilAdministration. ilTo ilthe ilextent ilthat ileconomic
ilnationalism ilisa
il ilpopulist ilresponse ilto ilthe ilglobal ilfinancial ilcrisis iland ilGreat ilRecession, ilit
ilmay ilsubside ilas ilthe ilworld ileconomy ilcontinues ilto ilrecover.
4. How ilis ila ilcountry‘s ileconomic ilwell-being ilenhanced ilthrough ilfree ilinternational iltrade ilin
ilgoodsa
il nd ilservices?
Answer: ilAccording ilto ilDavid ilRicardo, ilwith ilfree ilinternational iltrade, ilit ilis ilmutually
ilbeneficial ilfor iltwo ilcountries ilto ileach ilspecialize ilin ilthe ilproduction ilof ilthe ilgoods ilthat ilit
ilcan ilproduce ilrelatively ilmost ilefficiently iland ilthen iltrade ilthose ilgoods. ilBy ildoing ilso, ilthe
iltwo ilcountries ilcan ilincrease iltheir ilcombined ilproduction, ilwhich ilallows ilboth ilcountries ilto
ilconsume ilmore ilof ilboth ilgoods. ilThis ilargument ilremains ilvalid ileven ilif ila ilcountry ilcan
ilproduce ilboth ilgoods ilmore ilefficiently ilin ilabsolute ilterms ilthan ilthe ilother ilcountry.
ilInternational iltrade ilis ilnot ila il‗zero-sum‘ ilgame ilin ilwhich ilone ilcountryb
il enefits ilat ilthe
ilexpense ilof ilanother ilcountry. ilRather, ilinternational iltrade ilcould ilbe ilan il‗increasing- ilsum‘
ilgame ilfrom ilwhich ilall ilplayers ilbecome ilwinners.
5. What ilconsiderations ilmight illimit ilthe ilextent ilto ilwhich ilthe iltheory ilof ilcomparative
iladvantage ilisril ealistic?
Answer: ilThe iltheory ilof ilcomparative iladvantage ilwas iloriginally iladvanced ilby ilthe
ilnineteenth ilcentury ileconomist ilDavid ilRicardo ilas ilan ilexplanation ilfor ilwhy ilnations iltrade
ilwith ilone ilanother. ilThe iltheory ilclaims ilthat ileconomic ilwell-being ilis ilenhanced ilif ileach
ilcountry ilproduces ilwhat ilit ilhas ilac
il omparative iladvantage ilin ilproducing ilrelative ilto ilother
ilcountries, iland ilthen iltrade ilproducts.
Underlying ilthe iltheory ilare ilthe ilassumptions ilof ilfree iltrade ilbetween ilnations iland ilthat ilthe
ilfactors ilofp
il roduction il(labor, iltechnological ilknow-how, iland ilcapital) ilare ilrelatively ilimmobile.
ilTo ilthe ilextent ilthat ilthese ilassumptions ildo ilnot ilhold, ilthe iltheory ilof ilcomparative iladvantage
ilmay ilnot ilrealistically ildescribe ilinternational iltrade. ilIn iladdition, ilfree iltrade ilproduces
ilwinners iland illosers iland ilif ilthe illosers ilare ilnot ilcompensated, ilfree iltrade ilmay ilfaces
ilpolitical ilopposition ilfrom ilthem.
©MCGRAW ilHILL ilLLC. ilALL ilRIGHTS ilRESERVED. ilNO ilREPRODUCTION ilOR ilDISTRIBUTION ilWITHOUT ilTHE ilPRIOR ilWRITTEN ilCONSENT
ilOF ilMCGRAW ilHILL ilLLC
,6. What ilare ilmultinational ilcorporations il(MNCs) iland ilwhat ileconomic ilroles ildo ilthey ilplay?
©MCGRAW ilHILL ilLLC. ilALL ilRIGHTS ilRESERVED. ilNO ilREPRODUCTION ilOR ilDISTRIBUTION ilWITHOUT ilTHE ilPRIOR ilWRITTEN ilCONSENT
ilOF ilMCGRAW ilHILL ilLLC
, Answer: ilA ilmultinational ilcorporation il(MNC) ilcan ilbe ildefined ilas ila ilbusiness ilfirm
ilincorporated ilin ilone ilcountry ilthat ilhas ilproduction iland ilsales iloperations ilin ilmany ilother
ilcountries. ilIndeed, ilsome ilMNCs ilhave iloperations ilin ila ilfew ildozens ilof ildifferent ilcountries.
il MNCs ilobtain ilfinancing ilfrom ilmajor ilmoney ilcenters ilaround ilthe ilworld ilin ilmany ildifferent
ilcurrencies ilto ilfinance iltheir iloperations. ilGlobal iloperations ilforce ilthe iltreasurer‘s iloffice ilto
ilestablish ilinternational ilbanking ilrelationships, ilto ilplace ilshort-term ilfunds ilin ilseveral
ilcurrency ildenominations, iland ilto ileffectively ilmanage ilforeign ilexchange ilrisk. ilBy
ilcircumventing iland ilalso iltaking iladvantage ilof ilvarious ilmarket ilimperfections, ilsuch ilas
ilbarriers ilto iltrade iland ilbarriers ilto ilflow ilof ilpeople iland ilcapital ilacross ilcountries, ilMNCs
ilcontribute ilto ilgreater ilintegration ilof ilthe ilworld ileconomy iland iling ilmore ilperfect ilfunctioning
ilof ilglobalm
il arkets.
7. Ross ilPerot, ila ilformer ilPresidential ilcandidate ilof ilthe ilReform ilParty, ilwhich ilwas ila ilthird
ilpoliticalp
il arty ilin ilthe ilUnited ilStates, ilhad ilstrongly ilobjected ilto ilthe ilcreation ilof ilthe ilNorth
ilAmerican ilTrade ilAgreement il(NAFTA), ilwhich ilnonetheless ilwas ilinaugurated ilin il1994.
ilPerot ilfeared ilthe illoss ilof ilAmerican iljobs ilto ilMexico ilwhere ilit ilis ilmuch ilcheaper ilto ilhire
ilworkers. ilWhat ilare ilthe ilmerits iland ildemerits ilof ilPerot‘s ilposition ilon ilNAFTA? ilConsidering
ilthe ilrecent ileconomic ildevelopments ilin ilNorth ilAmerica, ilhow ilwould ilyou ilassess ilPerot‘s
ilposition ilon ilNAFTA?
Answer: ilSince ilthe ilinception ilof ilNAFTA, ilmany ilAmerican ilcompanies ilindeed ilhave
ilinvested ilheavily ilin ilMexico, ilsometimes ilrelocating ilproduction ilfrom ilthe ilUnited ilStates ilto
ilMexico. ilAlthoughtil his ilmight ilhave iltemporarily ilcaused ilunemployment ilof ilsome ilAmerican
ilworkers, ilthey ilwere ileventually ilrehired ilby ilother ilindustries iloften ilfor ilhigher ilwages. ilAt ilthe
ilsame iltime, ilMexico ilhas ilbeen ilexperiencing ila ilmajor ileconomic ilboom. ilIt ilseems ilclear
ilthat ilboth ilMexico iland ilthe ilU.S. ilhaveb
il enefited ilfrom ilNAFTA. ilPerot‘s ilconcern ilappears ilto
ilhave ilbeen ilill ilfounded.
8. In il1995, ila ilworking ilgroup ilof ilFrench ilchief ilexecutive ilofficers ilwas ilset ilup ilby ilthe
ilConfederationo
il f ilFrench ilIndustry il(CNPF) iland ilthe ilFrench ilAssociation ilof ilPrivate
ilCompanies il(AFEP) ilto ilstudy ilthe ilFrench ilcorporate ilgovernance ilstructure. ilThe ilgroup
ilreported ilthe ilfollowing, ilamong ilother ilthings: il―The ilboard ilof ildirectors ilshould ilnot ilsimply
ilaim ilat ilmaximizing ilshare ilvalues ilas ilin ilthe ilU.K. iland ilthe ilU.S. ilRather, ilits ilgoal ilshould ilbe
ilto ilserve ilthe ilcompany, ilwhose ilinterests ilshould ilbe ilclearly ildistinguished ilfrom ilthose ilof ilits
ilshareholders, ilemployees, ilcreditors, ilsuppliers iland ilclients ilbut ilstill ilequated ilwith iltheir
ilgeneral ilcommon ilinterest, ilwhich ilis ilto ilsafeguard ilthe ilprosperity iland ilcontinuity ilof ilthe
ilcompany‖. ilEvaluate ilthe ilabove ilrecommendation ilof ilthe ilworking ilgroup.
©MCGRAW ilHILL ilLLC. ilALL ilRIGHTS ilRESERVED. ilNO ilREPRODUCTION ilOR ilDISTRIBUTION ilWITHOUT ilTHE ilPRIOR ilWRITTEN ilCONSENT
ilOF ilMCGRAW ilHILL ilLLC
