Fragmentation and trade:: US inward processing trade in the EU

Fragmentation, which refers to the splitting up of a previously integrated production process into separate components, is seen as one of the reasons for the increasing globalization of the world economy. This paper undertakes an empirical study of the extent of US inward processing trade (IPT) in the EU, which we use as a proxy for fragmentation in trade. We also provide empirical evidence on the determinants of the distribution of US IPT across manufacturing sectors in the twelve EU member states. Our results give support to the importance of comparative advantage for the sectoral distribution of US IPT. Also, we find that the labour costs and the level of US FDI stocks affect US IPT in EU peripheral countries, while they do not seem to have any impact on EU core countries. JEL no. F14, L14.