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).

"Javorcik, Saggi, and Spatareanu use a firm-level panel data set from Romania to examine whether the nationality of foreign investors affects the degree of vertical spillovers from foreign direct investment. Investors' country of origin may matter for spillovers to domestic producers in upstream sectors (supplying intermediate inputs) in two ways. First, the share of intermediate inputs sourced by multinationals from a host country is likely to increase with the distance between the host and the source economy. Second, the sourcing pattern is likely to be affected by preferential trade agreements that cover some but not other source economies. In this case, the Association Agreement signed between Romania and the European Union (EU) implies that inputs sourced from the EU are subject to a lower tariff than inputs sourced from America or Asia. Moreover, while for European investors intermediate inputs sourced from home country suppliers comply with the rules of origin and thus can be exported to the EU on preferential terms, this would not be the case for home country suppliers of American or Asian multinationals. Therefore, one would expect that American and Asian investors source more from Romania than EU investors and thus present greater potential for vertical spillovers. The empirical analysis produces evidence in support of the authors' hypothesis. They find a positive association between the presence of.

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 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.

Along with privatisation, foreign direct investment (FDI) is commonly viewed as one of the main channels for industrial restructuring in transition countries in Central and Eastern Europe. This analysis focuses on how FDI may contribute to restructuring through the generation of productivity spillovers in locally-owned firms. Using comprehensive data for Polish manufacturing, the study suggests that it benefits on average from a higher presence of foreign firms. However, positive productivity spillovers are absent so far. Economic theories suggest that a too high technological gap between foreign and local firms, the state ownership and low competition level hinder the emergence of positive spillovers.

During the past twenty or so years, foreign direct investment (FDI) flows have increased at rates approaching the astounding, especially so during the 1990s. While much of the increase was due to unprecedented cross-border mergers and acquisitions among high-income countries, the amount of FDI flowing to developing nations also grew substantially. This volume examines the economics of this FDI to developing countries. Some chapters are theoretical in nature, others empirical, and still others are largely policy-oriented. Topics covered include whether FDI makes an autonomous contribution to growth in these nations and whether or not 'spillovers' are generated by this investments. Also covered are effects of policy intervention by governments on FDI flows and whether non-economic factors (e.g. cultural factors) might figure as determinants of location of FDI.

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.