The spillover effect of multinational companies has, historically, been subject to much debate. The assumption that the host country can be expected to enjoy spillovers – improvements in the balance of payments, in the influx of foreign currency and in other sectors of the economy not directly affected by the multinational – has not necessarily been corroborated in practice. First published in 1989, this book addresses this debate, and the very different conclusions that can be drawn about spillovers. Reporting on significant research on Latin America and drawing comparisons with findings elsewhere, Foreign Investment and Spillovers provides students and researchers with a truly international perspective.

The spillover effect of multinational companies has, historically, been subject to much debate. The assumption that the host country can be expected to enjoy spillovers – improvements in the balance of payments, in the influx of foreign currency and in other sectors of the economy not directly affected by the multinational – has not necessarily been corroborated in practice. First published in 1989, this book addresses this debate, and the very different conclusions that can be drawn about spillovers. Reporting on significant research on Latin America and drawing comparisons with findings elsewhere, Foreign Investment and Spillovers provides students and researchers with a truly international perspective.

China has become such an important element of the global economy that its influence cannot be ignored in almost any field of endeavour. The phenomenal impact of FDI in China and its (largely trade-related) consequences has been well documented and now there is a significant literature on the phenomenon of outward investment from China too. This book is an in depth study of the international business relationships of China covering both inward and outward foreign direct investment, its impact and related theoretical and policy issues. This volume of highly renowned author Peter Buckley's collected papers from 2005-8 continues his interest in the theory of international business (Section I) and policies towards foreign direct investment (FDI) (Section IV) but has a major concentration on China, both as regards outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) from China (Section II) and FDI in China (Section III).

This book presents the results of a groundbreaking study on ‘spillovers’ of knowledge and technology from global value-chain oriented foreign direct investment (FDI) in Sub-Saharan Africa, and discusses implications for policymakers hoping to harness the power of FDI for economic development.

Over the past twenty years, foreign direct investments have spurred widespread liberalization of the foreign direct investment (FDI) regulatory framework. By opening up to foreign investors and encouraging FDI, which could result in increased capital and market access, many countries have improved the operational conditions for foreign affiliates and strengthened standards of treatment and protection. By assuring investors that their investment will be legally protected with closed bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and double taxation treaties (DTTs), this in turn creates greater interest in FDI.

This paper examines the role financial markets play in the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic development. We model an economy with a continuum of agents indexed by their level of ability. Agents can either work for the foreign company or undertake entrepreneurial activities, which are subject to a fixed cost. Better financial markets allow agents to take advantage of knowledge spillovers from FDI, magnifying the output effects of FDI. Empirically, we show that well-developed financial markets allow significant gains from FDI, while FDI alone plays an ambiguous role in contributing to development.

This book provides an insightful exploration of whether foreign direct investment (FDI) can promote the productivity of domestic enterprises. The book is based on a series of dedicated research conducted in the context of the Chinese economy, which has been the largest FDI host among the developing economies since 1993. The main themes of this book are (a) based on the latest literature and first-hand research, outlining possible mechanisms through which foreign direct investment could promote the productivity of domestic enterprises; (b) developing a comprehensive research framework to quantify the spillover effects with cutting-edge methodology; (c) constructing a decision support system for evaluating FDI policy reforms with advanced computer simulation techniques; (d) evaluating the broader impact of FDI spillovers on banking system and trade pattern. The book examines topical economic issues in the contemporary world economy from innovative perspectives, namely, how the presence of multinational enterprises has been one of the most important microeconomic drivers for the Chinese economy, how foreign banks have helped to enable Chinese banking system survive the global financial crisis, and how the domestic enterprises have learned to do exports from multinational affiliates and have changed the landscape of U.S.-Asian trade. The book incorporates the latest development of economic theory as well as computational economics model.