This document examines the global and regional evolution of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and offers recommendations so these flows can contribute to the region's productive development processes.
In 2010, the Latin American and Caribbean region showed great resilience to the international financial crisis and became the world region with the fastest-growing flows of both inward and outward foreign direct investment (FDI). The upswing in FDI in the region has occurred in a context in which developing countries in general have taken on a greater share in both inward and outward FDI flows. This briefing paper is divided into five sections. The first offers a regional overview of FDI in 2010. The second examines FDI trends in Central America, Panama and the Dominican Republic. The third describes the presence China is beginning to build up as an investor in the region. Lastly, the fourth and fifth sections analyze the main foreign investments and business strategies in the telecommunications and software sectors, respectively.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) and multinational corporations (MNCs)--for better and worse--play a large and growing role in shaping our world. The integrating thesis of this book is the inevitability of heterogeneity in FDI and MNCs and, accordingly, the imperative of disaggregation. Large companies doing business on a global basis increasingly dominate the production and marketing of the world's goods and services. The importance of these companies continues to grow while the debate about their nature and effects remains mired in a long-standing stalemate couched in strong black and white terms. Stephen D. Cohen seeks to reconcile this impasse by analyzing multinational corporations and foreign direct investment in an eclectic, nuanced manner. The core thesis is that an accurate understanding of the nature and impact of these phenomena comes from acknowledging the dominance of heterogeneity, perceptions, and ambiguity and the paucity of universal truths. This approach should contribute significantly to both a better academic understanding and a more productive policy debate of an increasingly important element of the world economy.
Latin America has been a complex laboratory for the development of international investment law. While some governments and non-state actors have remained true to the Latin American tradition of resistance towards the international investment law regime, other governments and actors have sought to accommodate said regime in the region. Consequently, a profusion of theories and doctrines, too often embedded in clashing narratives, has emerged. In Latin America, the practice of international investment law is the vivid amalgamation of the practice of governments sometimes resisting and sometimes welcoming mainstream approaches; the practice of lawyers assisting foreign investors from outside and within the region; and the practice of civil society, indigenous peoples and other actors in their struggle for human rights and sustainable development. Latin America and international investment law describes the complex roles that governments have played vis-à-vis foreign investors and investments; the refreshing but clashing forces that international organizations, corporations, civil society, and indigenous peoples have brought to the field; and the contribution that Latin America has made to the development of the theory and practice of international investment law, notably in fields in which the Latin American experience has been traumatic: human rights and sustainable development. Latin American scholars have been contributing to the theory of international investment law for over a century; resting on the shoulders of true giants, this volume aims at pushing this contribution a little further.
The Global Investment Competitiveness report presents new insights and evidence on drivers of foreign direct investment (FDI) in developing countries, and FDI’s role in development. The report’s survey of 750 executives of multinational corporations finds that a business-friendly legal and regulatory environment is a key driver of investment decisions in developing countries, along with political stability, security, and macroeconomic conditions. The report’s topic-specific chapters explore the potential of FDI to create new growth opportunities for local firms, assess the power of tax holidays and other fiscal incentives to attract FDI, analyze characteristics of FDI originating in developing countries, and examine the experience of foreign investors in countries affected by conflict and fragility. Three key features of this Global Investment Competitiveness report distinguish it from other publications on FDI. First, its insights are based on a combination of first-hand perspectives of investors, extensive analysis of available data and evidence, and international good practices in investment policy design and implementation. Secondly, rather than exploring broad FDI trends, the report provides detailed and unique analysis of FDI depending on its motivation, sector, geographic origin and destination, and phase of investment. Thirdly, the report offers practical and actionable recommendations to policymakers in developing countries wishing to reform their business climates for increased investment competitiveness. As such, the report is meant to complement other knowledge products of the World Bank Group focused even more explicitly on country-level data, detailed reform diagnostics, and presentation of best practices. We are confident this report will bring value and fresh perspectives to a variety of audiences. To governments and policymakers, including investment promotion professionals, the report offers direct insights into the role of government policies and actions in investors’ decision-making. To foreign investors and site location consultants, the report provides information on FDI trends and drivers across sectors and geographies. For academic audiences, the new datasets on investment incentives and FDI motivations enables opportunities for additional research and analysis. Lastly, for development assistance providers and other stakeholders, the report highlights key approaches for maximizing FDI’s benefits for development.
"Most of the research on multinationals has focused on companies from developed markets. Research on multinationals from emerging economies is relatively new and most of the attention has been focused on multinationals from Asia. Little research has been done on the internationalization strategies and challenges of Latin American multinationals. This book aims to fill this void. Studying Latin American multinationals will not only provide insights into specific strategies deployed by successful firms but will also identify best practices that can be employed by the next generation multinationals from emerging markets." --Book Jacket.
Global geopolitical relations are being shaken to their roots, and no region in the world is more entangled in this than Latin America. Trump's foreign policy is transforming the role played by the United States on the world stage, questioning multilateralism and casting a shadow on the whole idea of global governance. Other world powers, especially Russia and China, are not sitting idly by. The European Union has an opportunity to take on the mantle of guarantor of liberal values and the multilateral order, and to strengthen its alliance with Latin American countries. This report helps to delve deeper into the region's shifting dynamics. How are the US, China, and the EU competing in terms of political alliances and economic projection towards the Latin American region? And how are some of the main Latin American countries (namely Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela) contributing to change the regional picture?
This title was first published in 2001. This informative volume gives penetrating insight into why multinational enterprises (MNEs) headquartered in Spain invested so heavily in Latin America in the 1990s. This is an invaluable resource for scholars of international political economics, international relations, economics, business and development studies and those with an interest in Spain and Latin America.
How can Africa, the world’s most lagging region, benefit from globalisation and achieve sustained economic growth? Africa needs greater investment by Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) to improve competitiveness and generate more growth through positive spill-over effects. Despite the fact that Africa’s returns on investment averaged 29% since 1990, Africa has gained merely 1% of global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows. The challenge for African countries is how to be a more desirable destination for FDI. The study integrates three currents of economic research, namely from the literature on (endogenous) economic growth, convergence and regional integration, the explanations for Africa’s poor growth and the growing understanding of the role of MNEs in a global economy. The empirical side of the book is based on an econometric study of the determinants of FDI in Africa as well as a detailed firm-level survey conducted in 2000.