Entre el liberalismo y el realismo en la política exterior de Singapur en la década del 60, a la luz del modelo desarrollista

El interés de esta monografía es estudiar si existe una disyuntiva entre la política exterior y la política económica de Singapur, o si existe una correlación entre ellas. Para ello, se analiza a profundidad la relación entre la teoría liberal en la política exterior y la teoría realista en la política económica de Singapur. Al realizar este análisis, se podrá diagnosticar el modelo de desarrollo e identificar los elementos que configuraron su éxito como las exportaciones y las inversiones extranjeras directas. Por lo tanto, en un principio puede que haya una disyuntiva entre estas teorías para analizar el objeto de investigación, no obstante, en el caso de Singapur, el Gobierno decidió una política exterior de liberalización económica y esta política ha sido impulsada por el Estado, adoptando una visión realista puesto que protege al mismo tiempo el interés nacional del Estado.

National boundaries and the location of multinational firms in Europe

Using data on 5,102 subsidiaries established in the period 1991–1999, we examine the location choice of multinational firms of different nationalities in 47 regions of five EU countries. In particular we estimate a nested logit model and find that European multinationals consider regions across different countries as relatively closer substitutes than regions within national borders. This is consistent with the hypothesis that European regions compete to attract foreign direct investments relatively more across than within countries. However, in line with previous studies, we also find that national boundaries still play some role in choices made by non-European multinationals.

Crítica do crescimento com poupança externa

O presente artigo é uma formalização da crítica à estratégia do crescimento com poupança externa. Apesar dos países de renda média serem pobres em capital, os déficits em conta corrente (poupança externa), financiados por empréstimos ou investimentos diretos externos, não necessariamente farão aumentar a taxa de acumulação de capital ou, mesmo, terão pouco impacto sobre ela, de forma que os déficits em conta serão associados a taxas de câmbio apreciadas, altos salários e ordenados reais e altos níveis de consumo. Conseqüentemente, o país se endividará para consumir, e não para investir e crescer. Apenas quando há grandes oportunidades de investimento, estimulados por uma diferença considerável entre a taxa de lucro esperada e a taxa de juros a longo prazo, o lucro adicional produzido pelo fluxo de capital estrangeiro será usado para investimento, e este trade-off entre a redução da poupança externa e interna não ocorrerá

China na América Latina: uma análise da perspectiva dos investimentos diretos estrangeiros

Este trabalho discute a dinâmica dos investimentos diretos da China para as economias mundiais e, particularmente, para a América do Sul. Após mais de três décadas de intenso crescimento econômico e de forte aumento de sua participação no comércio mundial, a economia chinesa vem realizando crescentes investimentos no exterior. No caso das economias da América do Sul, a influência comercial chinesa tem alterado substancialmente a importância de tradicionais parceiros comerciais e mesmo a importância do Brasil na região. Os fluxos de investimentos diretos, mesmo que ainda em pequena escala, indicam o mesmo caminho de aumento de sua influência sobre as diversas economias da região, especialmente na exploração de fontes de materiais primais e de alimentos. Com isso, a China reforça não somente pela via comercial, mas também pelos influxos de investimentos, a característica agrícolaprimária das economias da região.

The impact of OFDI on economic growth countries. An econometric approach using panel data and time-series evidence

The thesis at hand adds to the existing literature by investigating the relationship between economic growth and outward foreign direct investments (OFDI) on a set of 16 emerging countries. Two different econometric techniques are employed: a panel data regression analysis and a time-series causality analysis. Results from the regression analysis indicate a positive and significant correlation between OFDI and economic growth. Additionally, the coefficient for the OFDI variable is robust in the sense specified by the Extreme Bound Analysis (EBA). On the other hand, the findings of the causality analysis are particularly heterogeneous. The vector autoregression (VAR) and the vector error correction model (VECM) approaches identify unidirectional Granger causality running either from OFDI to GDP or from GDP to OFDI in six countries. In four economies causality among the two variables is bidirectional, whereas in five countries no causality relationship between OFDI and GDP seems to be present.

Le strategie di internazionalizzazione delle imprese distrettuali: un'analisi comparata di tre diversi sistemi locali di produzione in Emilia Romagna

Since the Nineties, the process of globalization has caused a sharp increase in the real and financial integration of the worldwide economy, reducing the obstacles to international trade and minimizing the cost of transaction. The entrance of foreign firms in the domestic market has deeply modified the competitive situation of Italian enterprises, which have been forced to change their strategies in order to cope with those of the new competitors. In this scenario, internationalization is no longer one of the different strategic options available for the firm, but it becomes a forced choice to maintain or acquire a competitive advantage sustainable over time. Internationalization strategies of SMEs, however, are hindered by the shortage of financial resources and entrepreneurial skills, therefore this kind of firms tends toward light forms of foreign expansion, like export and subcontracting. Despite this, many studies have demonstrated that the district localisation increases the firms’ productivity and innovative capacity, so their competiveness both at a domestic and international level. The majority of these empirical contributions has focused mainly on the analysis of commercial flows, confirming that district enterprises reach a superior international performance compared to their external competitors. On the contrary, only few works have tried to evaluate the existence of a district effect on the firms’ ability to invest abroad, but the obtained results are not straightforward. One of the reason of these conclusions is that the phenomena has been analysed without taking into account the differences existing between districts in terms of enterprises’ dimension, diffusion of industrial groups and, above all, the sector of productive specialization, because the technological content of production could improve the innovativeness of district firms, allowing them to adopt advanced forms of internationalisation as foreign direct investments (FDI). The aim of the thesis is to further investigate the district effect on internationalisation, trough an econometric analysis of the international strategies carried out by firms localised in three different local system of production characterised by different technological specialization.

Three Essays in Spatial Economics

This work contributes to the field of spatial economics by embracing three distinct modelling approaches, belonging to different strands of the theoretical literature. In the first chapter I present a theoretical model in which the changes in urban system’s degree of functional specialisation are linked to (i) firms’ organisational choices and firms’ location decisions. The interplay between firms’ internal communication/managing costs (between headquarters and production plants) and the cost of communicating with distant business services providers leads the transition process from an “integrated” urban system where each city hosts every different functions to a “functionally specialised” urban system where each city is either a primary business center (hosting advanced business services providers, a secondary business center or a pure manufacturing city and all this city-types coexist in equilibrium.The second chapter investigates the impact of free trade on welfare in a two-country world modelled as an international Hotelling duopoly with quadratic transport costs and asymmetric countries, where a negative environmental externality is associated with the consumption of the good produced in the smaller country. Countries’ relative sizes as well as the intensity of negative environmental externality affect potential welfare gains of trade liberalisation. The third chapter focuses on the paradox, by which, contrary to theoretical predictions, empirical evidence shows that a decrease in international transport costs causes an increase in foreign direct investments (FDIs). Here we propose an explanation to this apparent puzzle by exploiting an approach which delivers a continuum of Bertrand- Nash equilibria ranging above marginal cost pricing. In our setting, two Bertrand firms, supplying a homogeneous good with a convex cost function, enter the market of a foreign country. We show that allowing for a softer price competition may indeed more than offset the standard effect generated by a decrease in trade costs, thereby restoring FDI incentives.

Entwicklung des Emirates Qatar : Strategien - Probleme - Erfolge

Qatar boomt. Da es hierzu keine ganzheitlichen Forschungsarbeiten gibt, werden in dieser Arbeit die neuesten Entwicklungen und Planungen mit hoher Aktualität und Praxisrelevanz erstmals erfasst und analysiert. Der Autor führt Informationssplitter von internationalen Organisationen und eigene Recherchen in ein ganzheitliches Bild zusammen. Qatar ist sich bewusst, dass Wachstum endlich sein kann. Welche Möglichkeiten hat das kleine Qatar von der Globalisierung zu profitieren und für sich Vorteile für die Zukunft nach dem Öl zu generieren? Der Fokus der Arbeit liegt auf den ökonomische und ökologischen Stellschrauben der Transformation unter wirtschaftsgeographischen, soziodemographischen und strategischen Gesichtspunkten mit lokalen, regionalen und internationalen Betrachtungsweisen in den Themenfeldern (Welt-) Wirtschaft, Bildung, Infrastruktur und Umwelt. Ausgewählte Faktorungleichgewichte werden in Bezug auf Aussenwirtschaft und Binnenwirtschaft erläutert sowie die Nutzung von korankonformen Finanzierungsinstrumenten und Direktinvestitionen von und in Qatar.rnrnKeywords: Qatar / Katar / Peak-Oil / Emirat / FDI / Qatarisches Modell / Masterplan / Wohlfahrtsmehrung / Disparität / Nachhaltigkeit / Islamic Banking / Agglomeration / Akkumulation / Globalisierung / Arabische Halbinsel / Persischer Golf / Faktor- Gleichgewichte / Doha / Aluminium / LNG / Gas / best practicern

Border Industry in Myanmar: Turning the Periphery into the Center of Growth

The Myanmar economy has not been deeply integrated into East Asia’s production and distribution networks, despite its location advantages and notably abundant, reasonably well-educated, cheap labor force. Underdeveloped infrastructure, logistics in particular, and an unfavorable business and investment environment hinder it from participating in such networks in East Asia. Service link costs, for connecting production sites in Myanmar and other remote fragmented production blocks or markets, have not fallen sufficiently low to enable firms, including multi-national corporations to reduce total costs, and so the Myanmar economy has failed to attract foreign direct investments. Border industry offers a solution. The Myanmar economy can be connected to the regional and global economy through its borders with neighboring countries, Thailand in particular, which already have logistic hubs such as deep-sea ports, airports and trunk roads. This paper examines the source of competitiveness of border industry by considering an example of the garment industry located in the Myanmar-Thai border area. Based on such analysis, we recognize the prospects of border industry and propose some policy measures to promote this on Myanmar soil.

Chapter 7 Clusters of Modern and Local Industries in Vietnam

Since the introduction of the Doi Moi ('renovation') economic reform in 1986, Vietnam has experienced a transformation of its economic management, from a central planning economy to a market-oriented economy. High economic growth, created by the liberalization of activities in all sectors of the economy, has changed the economic structure of the country, and the once agriculture-based and poverty-stricken land now generates a midlevel income and possesses many industrial bases. Economic growth has also changed the landscape of the country. Business complexes have been built in metropolises like Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, and rice fields have been converted into industrial zones. As the number of enterprises increased, areas began to emerge where many enterprises agglomerated. Some of these 'clusters' were groups of cottage industry households, while many others were large-scale industrial clusters. As Porter [1998] argues, industrial clusters are the source of a nation's 'competitive advantage'. McCarty et al. [2005] indicate that in some key industries in Vietnam, some clusters of enterprises have been created, although the degree of agglomeration differs from one industry to another. Using industry census data from 2001, they include dot density maps for the 12 leading manufacturing industries in Vietnam. They show that most of the industries analyzed are clustered either in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City (or both). Among these 12 industries, the garments industry has the greatest tendency to cluster, followed by textile, rice, seafood, and paper industries. The fact that industrial clusters have begun to form in some areas could be a positive sign for Vietnam's future economic development. What is lacking in McCarty et al. [2005], however, is the identification of the participants in the industrial clusters. Some argue for the importance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam's economic development (e.g. Nguyen Tri Thanh [2007], Tran Tien Cuong et al. [2008]), while others stress the impact of foreign direct investments (FDI) (for example, Tuan Bui [2009]). Adding information about the participants in the above cluster study (and in other studies of spatial patterns of location of enterprises) may broaden the scope for analysis of economic development in Vietnam. This study aims to reveal the characteristics of industrial clusters in terms of their participants and locations. The findings of the study may provide basic information for evaluating the effects of agglomeration and the robustness of the effects in the industrial clusters in Vietnam. Section 1 describes the characteristics of economic entities in Vietnam such as ownership, size of enterprise, and location. Section 2 examines qualitative aspects of industrial clusters identified in McCarty et al. [2005] and uses information on the size and ownership of clusters. Three key industries (garments, consumer electronics, and motor vehicle) are selected for the study. Section 3 identifies another type of cluster commonly seen in Vietnam, composed of local industries and called 'craft villages'. Many such villages have been developed since the early 1990s. The study points out that some of these villages have become industrialized (or are becoming industrialized) by introducing modern modes of production and by employing thousands of laborers.

Review of the Economic Development in the Western Balkan States. OSW STUDIES No. 19, 2005-08-10

Foreword. Ten years after the end of the armed conflict, the Western Balkans1 are still being considered as the “land of the unsuccessful policies”. Enormous financial and technical assistance transferred by the International Community has not managed to meet the goals of integrating the region within itself as well as within the European markets. Explanation for this can be found in the consequences of the war and the remnants of the socialist state. The complexity of current institutional/ political arrangements combined with the limited willingness of the regional actors to introduce and implement much of the needed reforms have additionally contributed to the current state of affairs. The economy and politics in the region intertwine to an extent as probably in none of the other post-communist states. Therefore, the paper presents the recent economic performance of the Western Balkan countries in the light of their limited institutional development and lack of efficient regional cooperation. The paper discusses the importance of foreign direct investments’ inflow for the economic growth of the “latecomer” states and presents major drawbacks which limit the influx of the foreign capital to the region. It presents private sector activity and regional cooperation programmes. It discusses the role of the International Community with the main focus on the activities of the European Union. The EU is examined not only as the main aid donor but more importantly as a foreign trade partner. Furthermore, it analyses the impact of the presence of the International Community and their strategies towards the region with the special attention to the EU. Finally, it presents recommendations for the improvement of the economic performance in light of the enhanced political cooperation between the EU and the region.

Is the "Dubai model" a new paradigm for growth and investment strategies for oil-based economies? Case study: Eurasia. ACES Working Papers No. 8, 2008

The first part of the paper addresses the theoretical background of economic growth and competitive advantage models. Although there is a whole set of research on a relationship between foreign direct investments and economic growth, little has been said on foreign direct investments and national competitive advantage with respect to economic growth of oil and gas abundant countries of Middle East and Central Asia. The second part of our paper introduces the framework of the so-called "Dubai Model" in detail and outlines the key components necessary to develop sustainable comparative advantage for the oil-rich economies. The third part proceeds with the methodology employed to measure the success of the "Dubai Model" in the UAE and in application to other regions. The last part brings the results and investigates the degree to which other oil and gas countries in the region (i.e. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Iran) have adopted the so-called "Dubai Model". It also examines if the Dubai Model is being employed in the Eurasian (Central Asian) oil and gas regions of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The objective is to gauge if the Eurasian economies are employing the traditional growth strategies of oil-rich non-OECD countries in managing their natural resources or are they adopting the newer non-traditional model of economic growth, such as the "Dubai Model."

International human resource management

Over the last two decades, international human resource management (IHRM) has evolved into an important field of research, teaching and practice. Until recently the focus of IHRM was on how to best manage human resources (HRs) in the multinational enterprise; however, IHRM has now evolved to incorporate two more perspectives, cross-cultural HRM and comparative HRM. Significant developments are taking place in the corporate world which have serious implications for IHRM. These include globalization, increasing foreign direct investments into emerging markets, growing intensity of cross-border alliances, growth of multinationals from emerging markets (such as China and India), increasing movement of people around the globe and an increasing trend in business process outsourcing to new economies. This emerging global economic scenario is creating immense opportunities for IHRM students and researchers. International Human Resource Management brings together articles which highlight the historical evolution of IHRM, discuss the contemporary issues and make projections for further developments in the field. The articles have been selected and arranged into sections in a way to help the reader better understand the developments in the field from different perspectives.

The advantage of Spanish multinational enterprises in Latin America

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) from Spain made large foreign direct investments (FDIs) in Latin America between 1990 and 2002, making Spain the second largest direct investor in this region since 1998, behind the United States. This dissertation explains the reasons that led Spanish firms to make these FDIs, as well as their operations in Latin America. Seven Spanish MNEs were included in this study, BBVA and SCH (banking), Telefónica (telecommunications), Endesa, Iberdrola and Unión Fenosa (public utilities), and Repsol-YPF (oil and natural gas). Quantitative and qualitative data were used. Data were collected from the firms' annual reports, from their archives and from personal interviews with senior executives, as well as from academic and specialized publications. ^ Results indicate that the large Spanish FDIs in Latin America were highly concentrated in a few firms from five sectors. The FDIs of these firms alone accounted for 70 percent of total Spanish FDI in Latin America in this period. The reasons for these investments were firm-specific and sector specific. A series of institutional conditions existed in Spain between the 1970s and the 1990s that allowed the employees of the firms to develop the knowledge and devise strategies to adjust to that set of conditions. First, the policies of the Spanish state favored the creation of large firms in these sectors, operating under conditions of monopoly sometimes. Secondly, the consumers put pressure on the firms to provide better and cheaper products as the Spanish economy grew and modernized. Thirdly, the employees of the firms had to adjust their services and products to the demands of the consumers and to the constraints of the state and the market. They adjusted the internal organization of the firm to be able to produce the goods and services that the market demanded. Externally, they also adopted patterns of interaction with outside agents and institutions. This patterned behavior was the “corporate culture” of each firm and the “normative framework” in which their employees operated. When the managers of the firms perceived that there were similar conditions in Latin America, they decided to operate there as well by making FDIs. ^

Negócios internacionais: Estratégias de investimentos no contexto luso-brasileiro

Este ensaio descreve e analisa novos desafios e oportunidades no âmbito dos negócios internacionais no contexto Luso-Brasileiro. Inicialmente, o ensaio desafia a hegemonia do conhecimento acadêmico em negócios internacionais alcançado por conexões Anglo-Americanas para sustentar que a valorização das conexões Luso-Brasileiras em um mundo globalizado pode promover conexões mais sólidas com outros países e regiões. A seguir, o ensaio descreve e analisa dados referentes aos fluxos de entrada e saída de investimentos direto externo no contexto Luso-Brasileiro com propósito de destacar, dentre os desafios e oportunidades contemporâneos, a crescente internacionalização das empresas portuguesas e brasileiras nas últimas duas décadas. Como considerações finais, o ensaio sustenta que a intensificação das conexões Luso-Brasileiras em termos de fluxos de investimentos requer estudos interdisciplinares entre os âmbitos de economia política internacional, negócios internacionais e gestão internacional.