The brazilian economy position on the Investment Development Path (IDP)

The hypothesis that inward and outward FDI positions of a country are related to the level and structure of economic development in relation to other economies, was first showed by Dunning (1979. The IDP suggests that countries tend to pass through five main development stages and that these phases can be classified according to the propensity of countries to host and/or invest abroad. This article attempts to measure the position of Brazil in the IDP. The investment by Brazilian firms abroad, in relation to emerging countries, was the first until 90s. However, Brazil's outward FDI increased substantially from 2000. In 2006 the Outward FDI exceeded inward FDI for the first time in the history of the country. Nowadays, the Brazilian economy seems to be in phase 2 and give signs of entry to stage 3, and some signs of evolution to phases 4 and 5. This paper intends to measure de Brazilian economy position on IDP especially between emerging countries context and the importance of a new stage of Brazilian economy: the systematic internationalization of domestic firms. This paper has the following structure: an evolution of FDI in recent years; after that we explain the phases of Investment Developmet Path Theory and measure de Brazilian economy position on IDP. Finally, the final considerations are related.