Since China entered WTO, the multinational corporations (MNC) increased the foreign direct investment (FDI) in Chinese market because China is famous for its huge market volume and low labor cost. However, the knowledge of Chinese market is still limited. This paper analyses the determinants of automotive MNC's FDI choice made in Chinese market based on the study of Chinese FDI environment and the investment behavior of Swedish firms. The determinants are tested through three variables: industry development, cultural distance and the government policy. In this thesis, data related to FDI in automotive industry is collected mainly from 13 provinces or municipalities. The results show that: (1) The regions with larger market size will attract more FDI; (2) The larger cultural distance will create more obstacles when MNCs invest, thus has the negative impacts on FDI choices; (3) MNCs will give priority to those areas with lower tax burden. Besides, this thesis also describes the detailed cultural distance at firm level between China and Sweden based on the interview with a Swedish firm. The results suggest Swedish firms need to focus more on the partner selection and management adaption when investing in Chinese market.

FDI har sedan början på 80-talet växt sig allt större och blivit en av de viktigaste tillgångarna till finansiellt och fysiskt kapital i världen. FDI har enligt många studier en viktig funktion för ett lands ekonomiska utveckling, detta gäller främst för outvecklade länder men också utvecklade länder. Studiens mål var att hitta viktiga faktorer som påverkade FDI inflöde till Sub-Sahara regionen. Den empiriska analysen gjordes med hjälp av en OLS regressionsmodell och hade 42 observationer sammanlagt. Huvudvariabeln var FDI/BNP. Resultatet av den empiriska analysen visade att den viktigaste faktoren för FDI inflöde hos länder söder om Sahara är ett lands ekonomiska öppenhet. Öppenhet visade en positiv signifikans i alla regressioner som gjordes. BNP per capita hade en negativ signifikans i den första regressionen men visade ingen signifikans när kunskapskapital och språkskillnader testades i regressioner. Variabeln för naturtillgångar hade en positiv signifikans när en tredje regression gjordes där länder delades upp i två språkkategorier.

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Using a panel data set spanning from 2005 to 2012 and drawn from 35 Sub-Saharan African countries, this paper examines the relative impact of corruption on the inflow of foreign direct investment. This study is motivated by the recent influx of political and media attention on the African continent that is poised to receive billions of dollars in investment over the coming years. It is argued in this paper that there is no significant link between the two variables. There did appear to be a negative skew meaning higher levels of perceived corruption resulted in less FDI inflows, while few countries returned with a positive relationship.

This thesis engages with debates surrounding Chinese FDI in Africa by examining the real or perceived effects of Chinese investment in the Zambian mining industry alongside the narrative that developed within political campaign discourse between 2006 and 2011. It probes the perception that Chinese mines were, or are, the “worst employers” in the industry and finds that, while there are a range of problems and issues in Chinese owned and operated mines, the framing of labour problems in Zambian mines as ‘a Chinese problem’ is both unfair and inaccurate. In doing so, this thesis calls for a theoretical and policy-oriented shift away from singling out Chinese employers as the chief architects of labour problems in the mines to a more holistic analysis of the political economy of investment and of the regulatory framework for mining. / Graduate / sikazwey@gmail.com

The flow of foreign direct investment has long been regarded as the main engine of growth in developing countries. Lebanon has aimed at attracting foreign direct investment to contribute to its economic recovery in the post-civil war period. EU countries were expected to be a major source of investment inflows, partly, due to their rich historical relationship, and partly, as an expected result of the new Euro-Med approach, adopted in the 1990s.This thesis assesses the EU private business interests in Lebanon during the reconstruction period, and investigates to what extent EU business engagements involved FDI. Within this framework, this thesis examines the role of the EU in encouraging the flow of EU private investments into Lebanon. This thesis falls into two parts. The first assesses the history of economic relations between Lebanon and Europe in the modern period, and the development of these relations after the establishment of the EC, examining the role of the latter in reshaping these relations. It also assesses the development of the Lebanese economy since independence from France. In the second part of the thesis, the theoretical framework of FDI is applied to a survey of EU private businesses operating in Lebanon. This helped in answering two questions: what business activities did involve FDI, and why EU firms engagement in FDI was very shallow. The thesis concludes that the lack of FDI activities in Lebanon, whether EU or non-EU, was a result of the lack of comparative location-specific advantages. It also suggests that the Lebanese government should assume a stronger role in improving Lebanon’s comparative advantages in order to attract FDI. The EU should provide substantial help - within the Euro-Med approach - to encourage EU private business investments in the country.

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TEIXEIRA, Ricardo Santos. Investigação sobre a sobrevivência das empresas beneficiárias de incentivos fiscais no Ceará no período de 2005 a 2010. 2012. 50f. Dissertação (mestrado profissional em economia do setor público) - Programa de Pós Graduação em Economia, CAEN, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, 2012. / Submitted by Mônica Correia Aquino (monicacorreiaaquino@gmail.com) on 2013-10-24T20:11:21Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2012_dissert_rsteixeira.pdf: 466270 bytes, checksum: a65aaab41fe1a85709d9cf357c4a8d7f (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Mônica Correia Aquino(monicacorreiaaquino@gmail.com) on 2013-10-24T20:11:31Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2012_dissert_rsteixeira.pdf: 466270 bytes, checksum: a65aaab41fe1a85709d9cf357c4a8d7f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-10-24T20:11:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2012_dissert_rsteixeira.pdf: 466270 bytes, checksum: a65aaab41fe1a85709d9cf357c4a8d7f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / The purpose of this study is to analyze the survival of companies located in the State of Ceara and beneficiary of tax incentive within the Industrial Development Fund, specifically within the Industrial Development Incentive Program. Such benefit was created in 1979 and is currently the main fundraising tool of the new companies or the expansion tool of the existing companies in the State.The statistical technique of survival analysis of the nonlinear KAPLAN-MEIER nonparametric method was used, comparing the results of the beneficiary companies with the results of the non-beneficiary companies within the Industrial Development Fund/Industrial Development Incentive Program. The study took into consideration the location, the economic activity developed, the percentage of benefit and the turnover of the companies.The results demonstrate that the survival of the beneficiary companies is clearly superior to that of the non-beneficiary companies regardless their location, economic activity or size. The study also points out that segments of activity in which even the beneficiary companies present low survival indicators shall be subject to a scrutinized analysis by policy makers in the development of the State. / O objetivo do presente estudo é analisar a sobrevivência de empresas localizadas no Estado do Ceará e beneficiárias de incentivos fiscais no âmbito do Fundo de Desenvolvimento Industrial - FDI, especificamente no Programa de Incentivo ao Desenvolvimento Industrial - Provin. Este benefício foi criado em 1979, permanecendo até hoje como o principal instrumento de captação de novas empresas ou ampliação das já existentes no Estado.Foiempregada a técnica estatística de análise de sobrevivência a partir de modelos não-lineares, utilizando-se o estimador não-paramétrico de KAPLAN-MEIER, comparandose, sempre que possível, os resultados das empresas beneficiárias com os resultados obtidos para empresas não-beneficiárias do FDI/Provin. O estudo levou em conta a localização, a atividade desenvolvida, o percentual do benefício e o nível do faturamento das empresas.Os resultados demonstraram que a sobrevivência das empresas beneficiárias é nitidamente superior ao das empresas não-beneficiárias, independente de localização, setor de atividade ou tamanho da empresa. Chama atenção, entretanto, segmentos de atividade nas quais, mesmo as empresas beneficiárias, apresentam baixos índices de sobrevivência e que, portanto, devem ser objeto de análise mais acurada por parte dos formuladores das políticas de desenvolvimento do Estado.

This dissertation investigates the factors that firms take into consideration when they decide in which manner to expand internationally (i.e. foreign direct investment and international trade). Another component of the investigation focuses on what types of firms benefit the most and what are the associated benefits with expanding internationally. I investigate self-selection and learning-by-exporting hypothesis by applying matched sampling techniques and non-structural econometric models. Using a Chinese firm-level dataset, I find that firms that start exporting are more productive than non-exporting ones. Additionally, in most industries exporters become more productive in time. I then investigate how income inequality leads firms to make different choices on how they expand internationally. I develop a simple theoretical model by carefully choosing a mean-preserving income distribution. I find that changing the mean-preserving parameter of the income distribution affects market demand for firms' products and firms' choosing of strategies for international expansion. Some, but not all firms gain market shares due to larger market size caused by the more concentrated income distribution around the mean. Using Gini coefficient as the proxy for income distribution, I demonstrate empirically that some firms gain market shares and benefit from more consumers becoming part of the middle class due to the corresponding change in income distribution. I also study the aggregate implication of opening the economy in a two-country Dynamic Stochastic Equilibrium in which firms have heterogeneous productivity in the spirit of Melitz (2003). I show that benefits incurred by international engagement are not equally distributed among firms. I separate firms into four categories based on their productivity levels. The highest productivity firms gain the most by breaking into a new market as multinationals. The second highest productivity firms become exporters and obtain the second largest market share. The third highest productivity firms only serve the domestic market, while the lowest productivity firms exit the market.