Global Investments & Local Development

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Mining for tech advances? The impact of mineral-resource FDI in the era of global value chains

Mining for tech advances? The impact of mineral-resource FDI in the era of global value chains

By Lorenzo Formenti (UNCTAD) and Bruno Casella (UNCTAD)

The spillovers of mining FDI – the diffusion and appropriation of foreign technology, know-how or skills that may not be available locally – are paramount for development in poor, resource-rich countries. In this piece, we identify three channels of FDI-led technological spillovers: 1. Generic exposure to multinational R&D activity; 2. Internationalization of […]

September 18th, 2019|Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), Knowledge diffusion, Multinational Enterprises (MNEs), Patents|0 Comments|

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Are global value chains in decline?

Are global value chains in decline?

By Bernhard Dachs (Austrian Institute of Technology) and Stefan Pahl (University of Groningen)

Global value chains (GVCs) have been a dominant trend in the world economy since the 1970s, but more recently their growth appears to be stagnating. In this article Bernhard Dachs and Stefan Pahl explore the roles of shifting global demand, backshoring, and regional integration in Asia in […]

July 26th, 2019|Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), Multinational Enterprises (MNEs)|0 Comments|

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Mining Global Value Chains: New Opportunities and Old Obstacles for Developing Countries

Mining Global Value Chains: New Opportunities and Old Obstacles for Developing Countries

By Carlo Pietrobelli (University Roma Tre and UNU-MERIT)

Mining activities in developing countries have traditionally been considered a form of economic enclave, with limited linkages to the local economy. This column challenges this view by arguing that mining activities are increasingly organized as global value chains (GVCs). Moreover, developments in science and technology are opening up new opportunities for innovative […]

May 10th, 2019|Location, Policy|0 Comments|

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What policies work for FDI?

What policies work for FDI?

By Riccardo Crescenzi (LSE), Marco Di Cataldo (LSE) and Mara Giua (LSE, University Roma Tre)

National and sub-national governments around the world have deployed a wide array of public policy tools to attract Foreign Direct Investment – from tax breaks and light regulations to subsidised facilities and new transport infrastructure. The problem is that there is very limited evidence to […]

February 21st, 2019|Amazon, Featured, Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), Innovation policy, Location, Multinational Enterprises (MNEs), Policy, Policy & Practice|0 Comments|

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Why foreign investment clicks in some cities and regions, while others are left behind.

Why foreign investment clicks in some cities and regions, while others are left behind.

By Riccardo Crescenzi (LSE)

The beauty contest between a number of USA cities to host the new Amazon base has unveiled how important the location of major companies is for regional and city development. However, it also showed how difficult it is for cities and regions to gain from what is potentially a race-to-the-bottom where only big Multinationals are […]

November 30th, 2018|Amazon, Brexit, Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), Location, Multinational Enterprises (MNEs)|1 Comment|

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Cities, Multinationals, and Trade

Cities, Multinationals, and Trade

This post analyses the prospects for trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) diversification, with a particular focus on the UK and Canada in the age of Brexit. Daniel Shapiro, Saul Estrin, Christine Cote, Klaus Meyer, and Jing Li examine the nature of trade in services using ideas developed in the international business and economic geography literatures to explore the interrelationships among multinational enterprises, global value […]

November 21st, 2018|Location, Policy & Practice|0 Comments|

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Innovation Trajectories in Developing Countries:  How Global Value Chains and Innovation Systems co-evolve

Innovation Trajectories in Developing Countries:  How Global Value Chains and Innovation Systems co-evolve

By Padmashree Gehl Sampath (UNCTAD), Rasmus Lema (Aalborg University) & Roberta Rabellotti (Università di Pavia & Aalborg University)

The increasing involvement of developing countries in Global Value Chains (GVCs) when supported by well-developed Innovation Systems (ISs) could influence the building of technological and innovation capabilities of their firms and sectors. Introducing the notion of co-evolution of global value chains and […]

November 8th, 2018|Location|0 Comments|

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Towards a plurality of global value chain architectures: What implications for firms’ innovation?

Towards a plurality of global value chain architectures: What implications for firms’ innovation?

By Giulio Buciuni (Trinity College Dublin, left) & Gary Pisano (HBS, right)

The increasing intersection of industrial clusters and regions and globally dispersed production networks has lately given shape to ‘hybrid’ forms of industrial organisation, where the local and global dimensions coexist, writes Giulio Buciuni (Trinity College Dublin) and Gary Pisano (HBS). This work aims to makes sense of the […]

August 14th, 2018|Impact, Uncategorized|0 Comments|

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Does it matter what countries do to maximise inward FDI-related technology transfer?

Does it matter what countries do to maximise inward FDI-related technology transfer?

By Przemyslaw Kowalski (CASE)

Creating an environment where technology-intensive FDI occurs has become a key policy objective in most countries, writes Przemyslaw Kowalski (CASE). By reviewing best policies to maximise technology-related gains from FDI, my colleagues and I have found a wide variety of policy approaches to encouraging FDI-related technology transfer and a wide range of effects in terms of […]

May 21st, 2018|Policy & Practice|0 Comments|

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Technology diffusion and innovation: the regional gains from entry of large plants

Technology diffusion and innovation: the regional gains from entry of large plants

By Vincenzo Scrutinio (LSE, left), Christian Fons-Rosen (UPF, Barcelona GSE, CEPR, middle) and Katalin Szemeredi (Corvinus, LSE, right)

Despite many attempts to evaluate the effect of FDI on local economies, there is still a great degree of uncertainty. In a recent work, we evaluate the impact of opening of plants by large companies in the US on innovation at county level. By […]

May 2nd, 2018|Impact|0 Comments|