This book presents important and original studies of international trade and investment in relation to regional economic integration, with particular reference to the experiences of Europe and East Asia. The distinguished contributors illustrate and explain how the location decisions of firms, international trade and capital flows can form, stimulate and shape economic regions in the global economy. The authors address several important themes including: the factors which determine the location choices of multinational firms location decisions of multinational firms in relation to their global performance the growing importance of East Asia as a recipient zone for foreign direct investment the impact of foreign direct investment on Asian host countries the role of trade and investment in regional economic integration. Economic Integration and Multinational Investment Behaviour will be welcomed by researchers with an interest in economic geography, international economies and business, European and East Asian studies, and globalization.

The increasingly integrated global economy presents both opportunities and challenges to national and international policymakers. Global economic integration is widely thought to improve the allocation of resources, promote technological transfer, and enhance living standards. But, at the same time, economic integration has frequently been associated with growing trade imbalances, increased financial market volatility, and less effective domestic macroeconomic policies.To identify domestic and international policies that will help nations around the world achieve the greatest net benefits from global integration, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City sponsored a symposium, titled "Global Economic Integration: Opportunities and Challenges," at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on August 24-26, 2000. The symposium brought together a distinguished group of central bankers, academics, and financial market representatives to discuss these issues.

This book is concerned with various aspects of global economies. Economists from the Universities of Freiburg i. Br. and Nagoya/Japan had met in a joint seminar to discuss these problems. Their analysis concentrated on current trends in Europe and in Asia with special emphasis on Japan. The first part of the extended and updated seminar contributions stresses the importance of foreign direct investment in the process of globalization. The second part deals with the deficiencies and required adjustments of financial institutions. The last part of the book explores international issues on the level of business policy, including the development of global competition, of environmental policies and of world-wide integration of information and communication technologies. The objective of the joint seminar, as reflected in this book, is the mutual understanding of economic problems that emerge with the interplay of globalization and national interests.

International economic integration has played a significant part in economic policy decisions for most countries and regions throughout the world over decades. This text looks at why the success of integration schemes has been so variable and what the prospects are for integration in the future.

This book investigates the impact of both real and financial integration to growth and to welfare, and to enquire whether increases in either or both forms build the linkage between the real and financial economy. It contributes to the following two areas: (1) Research of economic developments in East Asia, the most dynamic and populous region in the world, in itself is important for researchers, policy makers, journalists, business people and others. East Asia’s economic developments influence peoples’ lives not only in East Asia but also in other parts of the world. (2) Many aspects of East Asian experiences in economic development are unique, making research of East Asia attractive and important to discern mechanisms of economic development. The first part of this study begins with chapters that address the measurement of regional integration compared with the engagement with the global economy and how this influences the aggregate behavior of the economies. The second part turns to consideration of the financial sector and the efficiency and performance of banking in the region. This allows a discussion whether, in the current crisis, the banking sector was an important channel of financial shock into real behavior. The third part turns to the corporate sector. Using data on firms, type of finance used by firms, its impact on their performance, and ownership structure influence over the productivity growth are discussed. Based on the findings, the book presents several policy recommendation and future research agenda for further economic integration in East Asia.