Peter Nunnenkamp and Julius Spatz ask whether globalization has changed the rules of the game for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to developing countries in the latest issue of Transnational Corporations, a refereed journal published three times a year by UNCTAD.
The three articles and two research notes appearing in the August 2002 issue (vol. 11, no. 2) contain a variety of general and firm-level analyses, focusing mostly on developing-country issues.
In their article -- the lead article for this issue -- Nunnenkamp and Spatz argue that little has changed since the late 1980s and that traditional market-related determinants are still dominant factors shaping the distribution of FDI.
In the second article, Clifford Wymbs provides an industry analysis of US public utility firms, concluding that firms that have not yet gone international will likely become acquisition targets.
The third article provides a firm-level case study. Sonia Ferencikova analyses the transition of a Slovak washing-machine producer from a joint venture to its full acquisition by a US partner. This study is intended to enhance understanding of why and how TNCs choose local partners.
In the first research note, Jacques Morisset and Olivier Lumenga Neso analyse administrative barriers to foreign investment in developing countries and conclude that administrative costs of entry and operational procedures vary greatly from one country to another and influence the locational decisions of foreign investors.
The second research note, authored by Adrian E. Tschoegl, examines the history of foreign banks in Saudi Arabia to shed light on the evolution of FDI in banking and its contribution to the development of the host country´s financial sector.
