The Global Race for Foreign Direct Investment

Foreign direct investment (FDI) has become the prime engine to foster growth and to facilitate the restructuring and internationalization of formerly sheltered areas during the 1980s. This book deals with future prospects for FDI and provides answers to some critical questions at the beginning of the 1990s: Will the unprecedented high rate of growth of FDI in the 1980s continue for the rest of the twentieth century and beyond? If so, which will be the major recipient countries, source countries and sectors involved in these transactions? The general approach of each chapter is to review the factors that prompted the expansion of FDI during the 1980s. Their value as driving forces in the future is then assessed together with some new factors. The book contains nine chapters. The first four deal with general issues such as: Will the restrictions on capital flows be reimposed? What are the prospects for the world economy? Which ingredients will shape the global competition for investment? What are the likely patterns of FDI to emerge in the next decade? The remaining five chapters are devoted to special issues such as: How will increased instability in the financial system influence trade and FDI? What role in future FDI will merger and acquisition (M&A) activities play? What influence will the emerging market economies have on the global distribution of FDI? Will the Japanese continue to be the major foreign direct investors in the future? Will FDI from small and medium-sized firms gain momentum as they become more exposed to international competition and as their customers get increasingly involved in FDI?