With the emergence of a truly global marketplace, regions now face far greater competition in attracting outside investment, and multinational companies have to consider local conditions on many levels before choosing to invest. Foreign Direct Investment and the Global Economy looks at the pattern of FDI and its impacts on the global, regional (trade block), national and sub-national scales. The contributors describe the much discussed global-local interlay apparent in the operations of multinational companies and their involvement with 'regulatory' institutions at different levels, from the global to the local.

Asking the question of whether Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is 'integrating' the world economy, this comprehensive volume consists of an overview of current FDI research. While the term 'integrating' is often used, the real test should be whether FDI is instrumental in bringing per capita incomes across countries closer together. By this yardstick, the answer is no. The forces driving FDI are strong; they lead it to flow to countries with attractive investment conditions and, moreover, investors have a tendency to follow each other. It is in such settings that FDI appears to have the most beneficial effect in raising growth. Written by an authority in this area, Ashoka Mody, this book will greatly appeal to all international and development economists.

Pinto develops a partisan theory of foreign direct investment (FDI) arguing that left-wing governments choose policies that allow easier entry by foreign investors more than right-wing governments, and that foreign investors prefer to invest in countries governed by the left. To reach this determination, the book derives the conditions under which investment flows should be expected to affect the relative demand for the services supplied by economic actors in host countries. Based on these expected distributive consequences, a political economy model of the regulation of FDI and changes in investment performance within countries and over time is developed. The theory is tested using both cross-national statistical analysis and two case studies exploring the development of the foreign investment regimes and their performance over the past century in Argentina and South Korea.

The role of foreign direct investment (FDI) in international capital flows is examined. Theories of the determinants of FDI are surveyed, and the economic consequences of FDI for both host (recipient) and home (investor) nations are examined in light of empirical studies. Policy issues surrounding possible negotiation of a “multilateral agreement on investment” are discussed.

We test the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on economic growth in a cross-country regression framework, utilizing data on FDI flows from industrial countries to 69 developing countries over the last two decades. Our results suggest that FDI is an important vehicle for the transfer of technology, contributing relatively more to growth than domestic investment. However, the higher productivity of FDI holds only when the host country has a minimum threshold stock of human capital. In addition, FDI has the effect of increasing total investment in the economy more than one for one, which suggests the predominance of complementarity effects with domestic firms.

This volume comprises 15 of John Dunning's most widely acknowledged writings on the changing characteristics of the global economy over since the 1970s. It examines in particular how these events have shaped, and been shaped by, the growing internationalism of all forms of business activity. The book is divided into five thematic sections, each of which illustrates a particular aspect of change and the author's analysis of it. It examines: the main features of the new global economy, its origin, opportunities and challenges; the author's writings on the factors affecting the location of economic activity by international firms; the changing nature and form of the contribution of FDI and cross-border strategic alliances to economic development and to the restructuring of national economies; and the relationship between the competitive advantages of international firms and the productivity and dynamic comparative advantage of the economies in which they operate.