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.
Explores three related issues of foreign direct investment (FDI) from the point of view of the host country: benefits and risks; the effectiveness of international markets in providing FDI to developing countries; and the kinds of policies that allow countries to capture the benefits and avoid the risks of FDI. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
This paper provides broader economic underpinnings for the specific issues relating to international discussions or negotiations on investment. It starts with a discussion of the effects of foreign direct investment on development through trade, one third of which takes place within corporate production systems. Then, it explores its impact on development beyond trade. By its nature, foreign direct investment brings into the recipient economy resources that are only imperfectly tradable on markets, especially technology, management know-how, skilled labor, access to international production networks, access to major markets and established brand names. The effects of foreign direct investment on development often depend on the initial conditions prevailing in the recipient countries, on the investment strategies of transnational corporations and on host government policies.--Publisher's description.
Drawing on good practices from OECD and non-OECD countries, the Framework proposes a set of questions for governments to consider in ten policy fields as critically important for the quality of a country’s environment for investment.
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.
This book brings together academics in the fields of economics, political science, and law, with business practitioners in the fields of risk assessment and portfolio management. Their contributions are sequenced to tell a story. Africa is perceived as being a highly risky continent. As a result, investment is discouraged. These risks are partly exaggerated. However, to the extent that they reflect genuine problems, they are capable of being mitigated by insurance and reduced by political restraints such as central banks, investment charters, and international agreements.
Low-income countries (LIDCs) are typically characterized by intermittent and very modest access to private external funding sources. Motivated by recent developments in private flows to LIDCs this paper makes two contributions: First, it constructs a new comprehensive dataset on gross private capital flows with special focus on non-FDI flows in LIDCs. Concentrating on LIDCs and more specifically on gross non-FDI private flows is intentionally aimed at closing a gap in existing datasets where country coverage of developing economies is limited mainly to emerging markets (EMs). Second, using the new data, it identifies several shifting patterns of gross non-FDI private inflows to LIDCs. A surprising fact emerges: since the mid 2000's periods of surges in gross non-FDI private inflows in LIDCs are broadly comparable to those of EMs. Moreover, while gross non-FDI inflows to LIDCs are on average much lower than those to EMs, we show that the LIDC top quartile gross non-FDI inflow is comparable to the EM median inflow and converging to the EM top quartile inflow.
Economic and social progress requires a diverse ecosystem of firms that play complementary roles. Making It Big: Why Developing Countries Need More Large Firms constitutes one of the most up-to-date assessments of how large firms are created in low- and middle-income countries and their role in development. It argues that large firms advance a range of development objectives in ways that other firms do not: large firms are more likely to innovate, export, and offer training and are more likely to adopt international standards of quality, among other contributions. Their particularities are closely associated with productivity advantages and translate into improved outcomes not only for their owners but also for their workers and for smaller enterprises in their value chains. The challenge for economic development, however, is that production does not reach economic scale in low- and middle-income countries. Why are large firms scarcer in developing countries? Drawing on a rare set of data from public and private sources, as well as proprietary data from the International Finance Corporation and case studies, this book shows that large firms are often born large—or with the attributes of largeness. In other words, what is distinct about them is often in place from day one of their operations. To fill the “missing top†? of the firm-size distribution with additional large firms, governments should support the creation of such firms by opening markets to greater competition. In low-income countries, this objective can be achieved through simple policy reorientation, such as breaking oligopolies, removing unnecessary restrictions to international trade and investment, and establishing strong rules to prevent the abuse of market power. Governments should also strive to ensure that private actors have the skills, technology, intelligence, infrastructure, and finance they need to create large ventures. Additionally, they should actively work to spread the benefits from production at scale across the largest possible number of market participants. This book seeks to bring frontier thinking and evidence on the role and origins of large firms to a wide range of readers, including academics, development practitioners and policy makers.
The Covid-19 pandemic has aggravated the tension between large development needs in infrastructure and scarce public resources. To alleviate this tension and promote a strong and job-rich recovery from the crisis, Africa needs to mobilize more financing from and to the private sector.
