Welcome to the LSE blog dedicated to globalisation and its consequences on local economic development and innovation. This blog aims to tackle and debate fundamental questions related to the location strategies of global investment flows and their impacts on the host countries, regions and cities across the globe. The blog aims to foster dialogues between academics and students in all fields, policy makers, economic development practitioners, businesses, managers and members of local communities.

All academic disciplines are welcome to contribute and indeed the cross-fertilisation of different approaches and perspectives is a leading principle of this blog. We make available the latest academic research about foreign direct investments, multinationals, city growth, spatial inequalities and how their interplay is shaping today’s world economy. We engage in debates in the UK, Europe, the USA and the rest of the world to inform public discussions and provide evidence-based analyses. The blog entries are organised under three themes: (1) location strategies and their drivers; (2) impacts of global investment flows on innovation, growth and jobs and (3) the role of public policies and management practices in balancing firm strategies and impacts.

While some of our pages are informed by the results of a large research project (Multinationals, Institutions and Innovation in Europe – MASSIVE) funded by the European Research Council (ERC), the blog aims to provide all LSE researchers active in this field with a hub to present and discuss new evidence and ideas. Occasional external contributions are also invited. All authors retain control and responsibility over the conclusions reached and are bound by the most stringent standards of academic integrity. All research presented in the blog has been peer-reviewed and individual posts are reviewed by the blog team members. Any exceptions to this policy are clearly acknowledged in the corresponding posts.

Interested in contributing?

We are always looking for motivated contributors. If you would like to write for the blog, please get in touch with us at geog.gild@lse.ac.uk. See the Write for us page for more information. While the blog is mostly about evidence-based research, we particularly encourage writers from outside of academia to get in touch. Students, local leaders, and private sector actors are all welcome to write for the blog.

This project has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union Horizon 2020 Programme H2020/2014-2020) (Grant Agreement n 639633-MASSIVE-ERC-2014-STG).