Direct Investment (direct + investment)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting

Kinds of Direct Investment

  • foreign direct investment


  • Selected Abstracts


    THE QUALITY OF INSTITUTIONS AND FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

    ECONOMICS & POLITICS, Issue 3 2007
    CHRISTIAN DAUDE
    Using bilateral foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks around the world, we explore the importance of a wide range of institutional variables as determinants of the location of FDI. While we find that better institutions have overall a positive and economically significant effect on FDI, some institutional aspects matter more than others do. Especially, the unpredictability of laws, regulations and policies, excessive regulatory burden, government instability and lack of commitment play a major role in deterring FDI. For example, the effect of a one standard deviation improvement in the regulatory quality of the host country increases FDI by a factor of around 2. These results are robust to different specifications, estimation methods, and institutional variables. We also present evidence on the significance of institutions as a determinant of FDI over time. [source]


    EMPIRICS OF CHINA'S OUTWARD DIRECT INVESTMENT

    PACIFIC ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 3 2009
    Yin-Wong Cheung
    It is found that China's investments in developed and developing countries are driven by different sets of factors. Subject to the differences between developed and developing countries, there is evidence that: (i) both market-seeking and resource-seeking motives drive China's ODI; (ii) Chinese exports to developing countries induce China's ODI; (iii) China's international reserves promote its ODI; and (iv) Chinese capital tends to agglomerate among developed economies but diversify among developing economies. Similar results are obtained using alternative ODI data. We do not find substantial evidence that China invests in African and oil-producing countries mainly for their natural resources. [source]


    FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: CHANGING LOCATION-SPECIFIC ADVANTAGES AS SIGNALS OF COMPETITIVENESS

    THE DEVELOPING ECONOMIES, Issue 3 2009
    Frank L. BARTELS
    F21; R3; P42; F23 This paper uses longitudinal factor analysis of location-specific advantages that are relevant to the foreign direct investment decisions of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to signal changes in location competitiveness. A total of 1,216 responses by MNEs to a survey in 15 SSA countries are analyzed. We find that, first, over a three-year period (2002,5), MNEs perceive a positive change in the market-servicing environment in SSA. Second, MNEs find negative changes in SSA regarding the availability of input factors and characteristics of market demand. [source]


    PRODUCTIVITY AND LABOUR DEMAND EFFECTS OF INWARD AND OUTWARD FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT ON UK INDUSTRY*

    THE MANCHESTER SCHOOL, Issue 2 2009
    NIGEL DRIFFIELD
    We relate the technological and factor price determinants of inward and outward foreign direct investment (FDI) to its potential productivity and labour market effects on both host and home economies. This allows us to distinguish clearly between technology-sourcing and technology-exploiting FDI, and to identify FDI that is linked to labour cost differentials. We then empirically examine the effects of different types of FDI into and out of the UK on domestic (i.e. UK) productivity and on the demand for skilled and unskilled labour at the industry level. [source]


    FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT AND DOMESTIC WAGES IN THE USA*

    THE MANCHESTER SCHOOL, Issue 1 2009
    SAIF S. ALHAKIMI
    High wages generally prevail in industries with substantial foreign direct investment (FDI) in developed countries. This study examines whether such wages are economically justified by revealing the effect of worker and industry characteristics on the FDI,domestic wage relationship. Findings show that while observed worker characteristics that command high wages help explain high FDI wages, the propensity for foreign owners to invest in capital-intensive industries contributes appreciably to the high wage paid to workers in industries with high levels of FDI. [source]


    Foreign Direct Investment in the Caribbean

    DEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2008
    Ivar Kolstad
    This article addresses the question of whether the Caribbean is particularly attractive or unattractive to foreign investors, and if it has specific characteristics that attract or deter FDI. An econometric analysis of data from 135 countries for 1980-2002 shows that the Caribbean does not suffer from low inflows of FDI; on the contrary, Caribbean countries receive more FDI than comparable countries in other regions. This reflects two contradictory effects. On the one hand, FDI inflows may be particularly sensitive to political instability in the region; on the other hand, the absence of regulation appears to have been a particularly beneficial factor in attracting FDI to the Caribbean. [source]


    Foreign Direct Investment, Services Trade Negotiations and Development: The Case of Tourism in the Caribbean

    DEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 4 2006
    Dirk Willem te Velde
    This article examines whether and how developing countries can use services trade negotiations to increase the amount of inward FDI conducive to development. It reviews how services trade rules can affect inward FDI, and employs panel data analysis with innovative use of instrumental variables in the tourism sectors of 9 Caribbean countries during 1997,2003. It argues that Caribbean countries may want to signal openness to inward FDI in GATS, while maintaining a degree of flexibility in the use of policy measures; in the current negotiations with the EU on Economic Partnership Agreements, the focus could be on emphasising the development dimension. [source]


    Policy Reform and Foreign Direct Investment in Africa: Absolute Progress but Relative Decline

    DEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2004
    Elizabeth Asiedu
    Despite improvements in the policy environment, sub-Saharan Africa's share of foreign direct investment (FDI) in developing countries continues to decline. This article provides an explanation for the deterioration in SSA's FDI global position. It argues that, although SSA has reformed its institutions, improved its infrastructure and liberalised its FDI regulatory framework, the degree of reform has been mediocre compared with the reform implemented in other developing countries. As a consequence, relative to other regions, SSA has become less attractive for FDI. An important implication of these results is that in a competitive global economy, it is not enough just to improve one's policy environment: improvements need to be made both in absolute and relative terms. [source]


    Debt v. Foreign Direct Investment: The Impact of Sovereign Risk on the Structure of International Capital Flows

    ECONOMICA, Issue 273 2002
    Monika Schnitzer
    The paper compares the two standard forms of international investment in developing countries, debt and foreign direct investment (FDI), from a finance perspective. The sovereign risks associated with debt finance are shown to be generally less severe than the ones that come with FDI. FDI is chosen only if the foreign investor is more efficient in running the project, if the project is risky, and if the foreign investor has a good outside option which deters creeping expropriation. The sovereign risk problem of FDI can be alleviated if the host country and the foreign investor form a joint venture. [source]


    US Outward Foreign Direct Investment in the European Union and the Implementation of the Single Market: Empirical Evidence from a Cohesive Framework

    JCMS: JOURNAL OF COMMON MARKET STUDIES, Issue 5 2008
    FRAGKISKOS FILIPPAIOS
    In this article we investigate the determinants of US outward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the European Union for the period 1982,2002. The data set allowed us to discern differences in the pattern of US FDI between EU core and EU periphery countries, as well as over different time periods during the last two decades. The results indicate that the US FDI pattern varies among different groups of countries and that there was a restructuring in multinational firms' investment activity after the implementation of the single market plan. Agglomeration factors, market size, qualified and productive labour and cost efficiency of local production seem to dominate in the location choice of US investors. [source]


    Does Foreign Direct Investment Replace Home Country Investment?

    JCMS: JOURNAL OF COMMON MARKET STUDIES, Issue 2 2000
    The Effect of European Integration on the Location of Swedish Investment
    The purpose of this article is to examine the effects of European integration on the location of investments by Swedish multinational corporations (MNCs). Evidence is presented about the extent to which European integration has attracted investment by Swedish MNCs, and whether foreign direct investment (FDI) is being undertaken at the expense of home country investment. In the empirical analysis, involving both OLS and iterative SUR techniques, a significant difference across industries has been confirmed. A substitutionary relationship between foreign and home country investment is found for more R&D-intensive production, whereas the opposite pattern seems to prevail for production based on traditional comparative advantage. The results of this study emphasize the importance of using disaggregated industry-level data when analysing the effects of foreign direct investment on home country investment. [source]


    Foreign Direct Investment in the UK 1985,1994: The Impact on Domestic Management Practice

    JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 1 2000
    John Child
    Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the UK has grown considerably in recent years. US, French, German and Japanese companies have generally accounted for the largest share of this FDI. In addition to greenfield and expansion investment, a major vehicle for inward FDI has been the acquisition of UKcompanies. This paper examines whether nationally distinct approaches to management were introduced, following acquisition, among a sample of 201 UK subsidiaries of French, German, Japanese,US and UK companies. It provides data on the extent of changes and the post-acquisition influence of the new parent, comparing changes between the four foreign nationalities and a UK control group. The study indicates that the process of being acquired and controlled by a foreign parent company was often followed by significant changes in management practice. Some changes were common to all acquisitions, including those by UK companies. A shift towards performance-related rewards and a stronger quality emphasis in operations are two examples. In addition, there was also evidence of effects which differed between nationalities. These conformed to accepted characterizations of national management practice in the case of Japanese and US acquirers, but less so in the case of French and German acquisitions. The findings suggest that present views of French and German management practice require further investigation. [source]


    Trade Unions, Wage Bargaining Coordination, and Foreign Direct Investment

    LABOUR, Issue 4 2008
    Roxana Radulescu
    Conventional wisdom is that a high trade union bargaining strength and a system of coordinated wage bargaining reduce the attractiveness of an economy as a location for foreign direct investment, although there is limited evidence for this. The paper takes panel data for 19 OECD economies to examine the relationship between trade union bargaining strength, bargaining coordi nation, and a range of incentives for inward foreign direct investment. It finds a strong negative effect of trade union density on inward foreign direct investment, which is dependent on the degree of wage bargaining coordination. A high degree of coordination weakens the deterrent effect of high union density, which is consistent with the notion that under certain circumstances a coordinated increase in wages can increase profits of the multinationals by hurting domestic firms. [source]


    The Impact of Compulsory Licensing on Foreign Direct Investment: A Collective Bargaining Approach

    AMERICAN BUSINESS LAW JOURNAL, Issue 2 2008
    Robert Bird
    First page of article [source]


    The Hazard Rate of Foreign Direct Investment: A Structural Estimation of a Real-option Model,

    OXFORD BULLETIN OF ECONOMICS & STATISTICS, Issue 5 2006
    Enrico Pennings
    Abstract The hazard rate of investment is derived within a real-option model, and its properties are analysed so as to directly study the relation between uncertainty and investment. Maximum likelihood estimates of the hazard are calculated using a sample of multinational enterprises (MNEs) that invested in Central and Eastern Europe over the period 1990,98. Employing a standard, non-parametric specification of the hazard, our measure of uncertainty has a negative effect on investment, but the reduced-form model is unable to control for nonlinearities in the relationship. The structural estimation of the option-based hazard is instead able to account for the nonlinearities and exhibits a significant value of waiting, although the latter is independent of our measure of uncertainty. This finding supports the existence of alternative channels through which uncertainty can affect investment. [source]


    Which Indonesian firms export?

    PAPERS IN REGIONAL SCIENCE, Issue 3 2003
    The importance of foreign networks
    Asia; Indonesia; exports; trade; FDI Abstract. This article examines export propensities among Indonesian manufacturers. The pattern of trade between nations is well understood, but much less is known about firm level determinants to export: why do some Indonesian firms start to export while others continue to produce for the domestic market? One reason for different export propensities could be that the sunk costs for exports differ between firms. This article examines if foreign networks decrease export-costs and thereby have a positive impact on the export propensity in Indonesian manufacturing establishments. Three different types of foreign networks are examined: foreign ownership, import, and the regional presence of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). [source]


    The Politics of Foreign Direct Investment into Developing Countries: Increasing FDI through International Trade Agreements?

    AMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, Issue 4 2008
    Tim Büthe
    The flow of foreign direct investment into developing countries varies greatly across countries and over time. The political factors that affect these flows are not well understood. Focusing on the relationship between trade and investment, we argue that international trade agreements,GATT/WTO and preferential trade agreements (PTAs),provide mechanisms for making commitments to foreign investors about the treatment of their assets, thus reassuring investors and increasing investment. These international commitments are more credible than domestic policy choices, because reneging on them is more costly. Statistical analyses for 122 developing countries from 1970 to 2000 support this argument. Developing countries that belong to the WTO and participate in more PTAs experience greater FDI inflows than otherwise, controlling for many factors including domestic policy preferences and taking into account possible endogeneity. Joining international trade agreements allows developing countries to attract more FDI and thus increase economic growth. [source]


    The Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in Australia

    THE ECONOMIC RECORD, Issue 232 2000
    JEANNIE YIH YUN YANG
    Australia is a recipient of large foreign direct investment (FDI) flows by world standards. Despite this, there is little empirical work on the determinants of FDI in Australia. We carry out an econometric analysis of the determinants of aggregate FDI inflows into Australia since the mid-1980s. We find that interest rates, wage changes, a measure of the openness of the economy and a variable representing industrial disputes are important determinants of FDI inflow into Australia over the period. The estimated model successfully explains within-sample variability but this success is greater in the beginning of the sample than at the end. [source]


    How important is employment protection legislation for Foreign Direct Investment flows in Central and Eastern European countries?1

    THE ECONOMICS OF TRANSITION, Issue 2 2009
    Markus Leibrecht
    Foreign Direct Investment; Central and Eastern Europe; labour market; employment protection Abstract In this article we investigate empirically the importance of labour market conditions and in particular the role of employment protection legislation as determinants of bilateral Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). We find that FDI flows are significantly higher in countries with relatively low unit labour costs. We also find that employment protection legislation does not exert a statistically significant impact on FDI flows. Our results are consistent with the interpretation that transition economies attract FDI via low production costs whereas indirect costs related to the rigidity of the labour market are less relevant. [source]


    Effect of the TRIPS-Mandated Intellectual Property Rights on Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries: A Case Study of the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry

    THE JOURNAL OF WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, Issue 5-6 2008
    Rajnish Kumar Rai
    The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights is the most important as well as the most controversial instrument to date concerning intellectual property protection. What is not clear is the impact it will have on developing countries and whether it will actually meet its objective in the ", promotion of technological innovation and to the transfer and dissemination of technology ,". The proponents of a strong patent regime vehemently argue that strengthening patent protection will lead to greater technology transfer in developing countries, and consequently inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) as it is the most important channel for technology transfer. This article takes the Indian pharmaceutical industry as an example to examine the above assertion, and argues that simply enhancing patent protection may not necessarily result in a corresponding increase in FDI in the Indian pharmaceutical sector. It shows that in addition to strong patent protection, there are equally or even more important factors that have a bearing on the inflow of FDI. [source]


    Fiscal Incentives, European Integration and the Location of Foreign Direct Investment

    THE MANCHESTER SCHOOL, Issue 3 2002
    Florence Hubert
    Foreign direct investment in the European Economic Area (EEA) has grown rapidly in recent years. This paper tests for structural change in the geographical and industrial pattern of foreign direct investment in Europe using a panel data set on outward investment by German companies in the EEA since 1980. There is evidence of significant structural change since 1990, with nearly all locations and industries seeing a higher level of cross,border investment than might have been expected. We also investigate the scope for national governments to affect location choice through the use of fiscal instruments such as corporation taxes, investment in infrastructure and other forms of development grants and subsidies. The findings are mixed. Some measures, such as tax competitiveness, appear important but are sensitive to the specification of the model. However, the level of government fixed investment expenditure relative to that in other economies is found to have a significant positive impact, particularly in locations with less need for EU structural funds. Although the direct marginal impact appears relatively small, an additional finding of significant agglomeration forces suggests that fiscal policies could still have a permanent influence on the location of economic activities. [source]


    Foreign Direct Investment, Infrastructure and the Welfare Effects of Labour Migration

    THE MANCHESTER SCHOOL, Issue 3 2002
    Frank Barry
    A model of a small open economy with open capital and labour markets is presented. Labour demand is based on capital mobility and increasing returns in production. Migration decisions are based on the relative attractiveness of regions in terms of the stock of infrastructure, including its tax cost and the degree of congestion, and the level of wages prevailing. Equilibria are not Pareto efficient because individuals do not take account of the impact of their actions on the level of wages prevailing, the extent of the tax base to finance infrastructural provision, or the degree of congestion. The model generates new insights into a range of policy issues that surfaced over the course of the recent Irish boom. [source]


    The Impact of Exchange Rate Volatility on US Direct Investment

    THE MANCHESTER SCHOOL, Issue 3 2002
    Holger Görg
    In this paper we examine the impact of the level of the exchange rate, volatility in the exchange rate and exchange rate expectations on outward US foreign direct investment in 12 developed countries and inward foreign direct investment to the USA from those countries for the period from 1983 to 1995. In our empirical analysis we find no evidence for an effect of exchange rate variation on either US outward investment or inward investment in the USA. This result is robust to a number of different estimation procedures. As regards the level of the exchange rate we find a positive relationship between US outward investment and appreciation in the host country currency while there is a negative relationship between US inward investment and appreciation in the dollar. [source]


    On the economic interdependence between China and Japan: Challenges and possibilities

    ASIA PACIFIC VIEWPOINT, Issue 2 2009
    Claes G. Alvstam
    Abstract The paper presents an analysis of the economic relationship between the two most important economies in Asia. Over the last decades, the Chinese and Japanese economies have become more economically interdependent, a development which will, in the long run, impact the countries' political relationship. The paper seeks to answer the question: How can China and Japan gain from the current economic situation, further enhance their relationship and increase their synergies for regional economic development? Data on trade and Foreign Direct Investment are used in combination with primary data from interviews with Japanese and Chinese companies on how they perceive the current business situation and future potential. The result of the data analysis shows that the countries have much to gain from their economic interdependence. The firms see great potential in their respective markets but are concerned about political turbulence. Three possible scenarios for the future economic relationship are presented, including fierce competition on all markets and a leveraging of resources for mutual development between Chinese and Japanese companies. [source]


    Global-local initiatives in FDI: The experience of Shenzhen, China

    ASIA PACIFIC VIEWPOINT, Issue 2 2004
    Mark Yaolin Wang
    Abstract:,In 2002, China surpassed the USA to become the world's largest foreign investment destination. Many Chinese cities, especially those along the coast, have become hot spots for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The urban development of these Chinese cities, as in most market societies, has increasingly depended upon their global connections. However, it is unclear to what degree the governments of these cities are able to influence the decisions of foreign investors. This paper uses Shenzhen city as a case study to examine how multi-nationals' spatial and sectoral patterns have been changed over time and to what degree the local government has been able to influence multinationals' locational and sectoral selection. It is concluded that Shenzhen has managed to create a strategy to maximise its ability to benefit from global economic forces and to attract multinational manufacturers in the locality, and particularly in increasing its target sector of technology-intensive industry. This case study demonstrates the importance of a strong city government in managing growth and reacting decisively to globalisation. [source]


    Firm Productivity and Foreign Direct Investment into Non-core Activities,

    ASIAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 3 2009
    Andrzej Cie
    F23 As foreign direct investment (FDI) often originates from multinational enterprises (MNEs) with non-core activities and not single-product firms, as MNE theory typically suggests, we hypothesize that such firms are more productive than MNEs without non-core activities as well as non-MNE firms. We test this hypothesis using Kolmogorov,Smirnov stochastic dominance Tests and Japanese firm-level productivity and FDI data for the period 1985,2001. We find that both manufacturing and service multinational firms with non-core foreign investments stochastically dominate firms without non-core activities. We also find cost-complementarities between certain core and non-core FDI activities that span both manufacturing and service affiliates. [source]


    Japanese Foreign Direct Investment in Electrical Machinery and Appliances in the United States: A Combined Industrial Organization and Location Theory Approach

    ASIAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 3 2000
    Jong-Il Choe
    We analyse the effects of both ownership and location advantages on the size of foreign direct investment, by combining industrial organization and location theory approaches. The estimated results employing a truncated distribution model show that the parent company's managerial resources and the external economies in a located region between them determine the FDI size of Japanese electrical machinery and appliances firms. This result suggests that empirical studies, applying only the industrial organization theory approach, need to be complemented by the location theory approach. [source]


    US Foreign Direct Investment in East Asia: Strategy and Policy Issues

    ASIAN ECONOMIC POLICY REVIEW, Issue 2 2009
    Mahani ZAINAL ABIDIN
    F21; F23; F13; F15; L22 East Asian trade and investment policies have attracted US investment into the region, but these policies should be fine-tuned for the region to compete effectively for US investment inflow and increase their global share of US foreign direct investment. The changes should consider the needs of the US investors and East Asia's own economic development. Bilateral free trade agreements with the US are the likely channel for these changes, but the question is whether East Asia is ready for a comprehensive and deep liberalization. East Asia should work toward a regional investment policy framework to facilitate and expand the regional production network developed by the US foreign direct investment. [source]


    ASEAN Economic Integration Trade, Foreign Direct Investment, and Finance , By Michael Plummer

    ASIAN POLITICS AND POLICY, Issue 3 2010
    Tai Wei Lim
    No abstract is available for this article. [source]


    Intellectual Property Rights and Foreign Investment: The Political Economy of Taiwan's Technology-Intensive Foreign Direct Investment

    ASIAN POLITICS AND POLICY, Issue 4 2009
    Douglas B. Fuller
    This article employs Taiwan's institutions for intellectual property rights (IPR) to explain two aspects of Taiwan's foreign direct investment behavior: the location of offshore sites for Taiwanese research and development, and investment by Taiwanese venture capitalists. The article first describes the evolution of Taiwan's informal IPR practices that differ from the ideal typical IPR regime supposedly required for economies as technologically sophisticated as Taiwan's. Essentially, Taiwan has developed informal practices to protect corporate IPR that are centered on internal corporate mechanisms rather than external formal legal mechanisms. Relying on these informal practices, the article discusses how Taiwan has invested in technology-intensive activities in locations where IPR protection is weak. This behavior stands in sharp contrast to the behavior of multinationals from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. [source]