Pontus Braunerhjelm and Karolina Ekholm Over recent decades, foreign direct investment (FDI) has become a major force in the global economy. The geographical pattern of capital formation, trade and technological spillovers across countries and regions, are to an in creasing extent determined by the strategies chosen by multinational firms (MNFs). Between 1982 and 1994, the rate of growth of the global FDI stock was more than twice that of gross fixed capital formation, the growth of sales by foreign affiliates of multinational firms well exceeded that of world exports, and, by 1994, the MNFs accounted for approximately 6 percent of world output (United Nations, 1997, pp. xv-xvi). The overall mechanisms behind this rapid internationalization in terms of multinational produc tion have been attributed to the dismantling of trade barriers and the deregulation of capital markets, together with the advances in information technology that have facilitated the coordination and monitoring of inter nationally dispersed production. This development carries two important implications: First, firms operate in markets characterized by much tougher competition than only a decade ago, and, second, countries and regions are involved in competition for production to a much larger extent than before. This book addresses questions related to the location and geographical dispersion of the activities by multinational firms, a topic which has be come of increasing concern to policy-makers.

The choice of location for the production plants of multinational firms is an important issue, not least because this decision is accompanied by so many fears brought into public debate. This book analyses how foreign direct investors choose their locations, whilst exploring the forces which shape international economic geography. Although these two issues are, to some extent, inter-related, researchers have only recently acknowledged the similarity of economic geography and international business approaches to the empirical assessment of likely causes of the degree of spatial concentration observed in many modern industries. Giving insight into the direction that future research should take, this book contains state-of-the-art papers on both theoretical and empirical levels. This original collection makes a particularly important contribution to our understanding of the existence and impact of home market effects. Introducing a welcome synthesis between two related and yet rarely integrated areas of study using case studies of firms in Europe, US MNEs and the Mexican automobile industry, this book will be welcomed by both academic and practising economists. Regional scientists and.

'The world economy is subject to a rapidly increasing globalization, and multinational enterprises are their major driving force. This brand new book on multinationals and economic geography by two world leading economic geographers is a landmark that provides an integrated and dynamic perspective on the economic geography of the multinational enterprise. To fully understand this process of globalization, the book explains forcefully and persuasively that one needs a dynamic perspective on multinational enterprises that brings together disparate literatures on economic geography, knowledge and innovation, global network cities, and international business and management. Embedding it in modern theory of innovation and geography, the book provides not only a state-of-the-art of theories and empirics on the location of multinationals, but goes far beyond that. This book is an absolute "must-read" for any scholar and any student that is interested in multinationals and their location.' – Ron Boschma, Utrecht University, The Netherlands and Lund University, Sweden 'Despite often playing second fiddle to clusters in the economic geography literature, multinationals are fundamental drivers of economic development. As generators and diffusers of knowledge they have played an essential role in shaping the new world economic order. No book captures this better than Simona Iammarino and Philip McCann's Multinationals and Economic Geography, a must read for anyone eager to fully understand the new economic geography of globalisation.' – Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, London School of Economics, UK After more than fifty years of systematic research on multinational enterprises (MNEs) what is apparent is that there is, as yet, no unified or dominant theory of the MNE. The objective of this book is to bring into focus one particular dimension of MNE behaviour and activity that has been relatively under-researched – namely the geography of the multinational enterprise – as understood through the lens of innovation and technological change. The authors clearly demonstrate that geography is becoming increasingly important for MNEs and, in turn, MNEs are becoming progressively more important for economic geography. The pivot on which this vital relationship turns is the creation, diffusion and management of new knowledge. This unique book will prove a fascinating read for academics, students and researchers across a broad range of areas including geography, economic geography, regional science, international business and management, innovation studies, economic development. Professionals such as corporate managers and policymakers in these fields would also find this book to be of great interest.

Through a series of international case studies, the nature and the geographical implications of the development of multinational corporations is examined. The volume concentrates on the latter Post-War period of corporate restructuring and readjustment in response to world-wide recession in the mid-1980s. The volume is divided into two parts. In the first each of the chapters considers a particular aspect of the problem of how multinational corporations have developed. In the second part the chapters consider different aspects of the economic and social impacts of these corporations. The common theme that links all the papers is their emphasis on careful historical analysis of different forms of spatial organisation and their transformation into other, different forms.

Presenting a debate on multinationals that is grounded in sound economic arguments, the authors explain their conclusion that multinational enterprises are generally a force for the promotion of prosperity in the world economy.

Presents papers which grapple with some of the most important developments and challenges in International Business, both for the firms who must fashion strategy within a rapidly changing world economic order and researchers who seek to explain the nature of these shifts and how firms respond.