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Spoilt for Choice? Multinational Corporations and the Geography of International Production

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  • Kozul-Wright, Richard
  • Rowthorn, Robert

Abstract

This paper questions the view that foreign direct investment (FDI) is producing an integrated world production and trading system. Although multinational firms have a greater choice of locations than in the past, their recent investments abroad have taken place within a regional, rather than global, framework. The upsurge of FDI flows from North to South has been attracted by just a handful of fast-growing developing countries. The paper disputes the claim that the road to development is for poor countries to attract FDI on the scale observed in such countries as Malaysia. This claim involves a fallacy of composition. While FDI can make a valuable contribution, most countries will have to rely mainly on their own resources and indigenous producers. The paper argues that current proposals for a Multilateral Agreement on Investment neglect both the regional aspects of integration and the need of poorer countries to promote their domestic supply capabilities. Conflicts of interest which are ignored in the current rhetoric suggest the continuing relevance of a strategic policy approach to international production. Copyright 1998 by Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Kozul-Wright, Richard & Rowthorn, Robert, 1998. "Spoilt for Choice? Multinational Corporations and the Geography of International Production," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 14(2), pages 74-92, Summer.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:oxford:v:14:y:1998:i:2:p:74-92
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    Cited by:

    1. Gary A.S. Cook & Naresh R. Pandit, 2014. "Agglomeration and flows of outward direct investment: an analysis of financial services in the United Kingdom," Chapters, in: Charlie Karlsson & Börje Johansson & Roger R. Stough (ed.), Agglomeration, Clusters and Entrepreneurship, chapter 3, pages 52-65, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Ben Ferrett & Ian Wooton, 2010. "Tax competition and the international distribution of firm ownership: an invariance result," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 17(5), pages 518-531, October.
    3. Gary A.S. Cook & Hans Lööf & Naresh R. Pandit & Börje Johansson, 2012. "The influence of clustering on MNE location and innovation in Great Britain," Chapters, in: Charlie Karlsson & Börje Johansson & Roger R. Stough (ed.), Entrepreneurship, Social Capital and Governance, chapter 3, pages 53-82, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Grazia Ietto-Gillies, 2019. "The role of transnational corporations in the globalisation process," Chapters, in: Jonathan Michie (ed.), The Handbook of Globalisation, Third Edition, chapter 8, pages 155-164, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Ben Ferrett & Ian Wooton, 2010. "Competing for a duopoly: international trade and tax competition," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 43(3), pages 776-794, August.
    6. Richard Mash, 2000. "Host Country-Foreign Investor Bargaining Power and Investment Incentive Provisions in Multilateral Investment Agreements," Economics Series Working Papers 47, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    7. Éltető, Andrea, 2000. "Az Európai Unióval folytatott magyar és spanyol feldolgozóipari kereskedelem szerkezete [The structure of Hungarian and Spanish manufacturing trade with the European Union]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(3), pages 275-289.
    8. Cook, Gary A.S. & Pandit, Naresh R. & Lööf, Hans & Johansson, Börje, 2012. "Geographic clustering and outward foreign direct investment," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 1112-1121.
    9. Martin Boddy, 1999. "Geographical Economics and Urban Competitiveness: A Critique," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 36(5-6), pages 811-842, May.
    10. Benjamin Richardson & Wes Cragg, 2010. "Being Virtuous and Prosperous: SRI’s Conflicting Goals," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 92(1), pages 21-39, April.
    11. Talamo, Giuseppina, 2010. "Corporate governance and capital flows," MPRA Paper 35853, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2011.
    12. Richard Kozul-Wright & Paul Rayment, 2004. "Globalization Reloaded: An Unctad Perspective," UNCTAD Discussion Papers 167, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    13. Palle S. Andersen & P. Hainaut, 1998. "Foreign direct investment and employment in the industrial countries," BIS Working Papers 61, Bank for International Settlements.
    14. Gary A.S. Cook & Naresh R. Pandit, 2012. "Clustering and the Location of Multinational Enterprises: An Exploration of Financial Services in London," Chapters, in: Charlie Karlsson & Börje Johansson & Roger R. Stough (ed.), The Regional Economics of Knowledge and Talent, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Dunning, John H., 2004. "The contribution of British scholarship to international business studies," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 257-279, April.

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