Globalisation and fierce competition necessitate MEs to rethink their strategies as well as their organisational structure in order to survive in an increasingly complex business environment. This has been accompanied with an overt wave of strategic alliances signaling that these strategic means represent an important weapon for the multinational company to use in the Global battle. However, the British involvement in such a wave is not as clear as that of other countries, for most of previous research has been done on US and Japanese firms. The current study rectify this shortfall by revealing the incidence of British-foreign alliances during the period 1980-1989. The main objectives of the study are to examine the motivations of these alliances, to uncover the management practices of such strategies, and to determine their impacts on the international competitiveness of the British partners. During the course of the last decade British MEs have formed 337 strategic alliances with foreign firms, mainly belonging to the "Triad Region" of the US, Europe, and Japan. Most of the alliances were concentrated in just four industries; electronics, aerospace, telecommunications, and automotives. Technological complexity and the high cost of R&D as well as globalisation and fierce competition are the main motivations for British firms forming strategic alliances. Strategic alliances' success lies in two main considerations: one is balancing the attention in the three crucial stages of the management process (planning, formation, and operation and control), and two is understanding the issues that link one stage to the other, i.e. preparation for the formation stage and development of the plan and management team of the alliance. The alliance performance is influenced by the scope of its activities as well as the ability of the firm to effectively manage such a strategy. Strategic alliances have positive impacts on three significant issues, namely; the international competitiveness of the British partners, the management of the firms, and their technological capabilities. Further, firms that equally importantly consider the three management stages of their alliances or network of alliances are more likely to ensure the improvement and/or enhancement of their international competitiveness.

On 18 March 1938 Mexican labour problems in the oil industry culminated in Mexican President Lazaro Cardenas' decision to expropriate the holdings of 17 American, Dutch and British oil companies.1 The purpose of this thesis is to fill the gaps in the literature on the Mexican oil nationalisation by analyzing the policies of the oil companies, and comparing and analyzing in detail how policy was determined in both Britain and the United States at a time when Britain was trying to win US cooperation in the face of increasing hostilities in Europe and the Far East. While Whitehall wanted US cooperation in taking a firm stance against Mexico, Washington refused. Washington's failure to cooperate with London is consistent with its resentment of Britain's still extensive trade relations with several South American countries and its attempts to form preferential trade agreements at the Ottawa conference of 1932 and subsequently an exclusive sterling bloc. Also, Washington's pursuit of the Good Neighbor policy precluded any association with 1 The companies included Mexican Eagle, which was managed and partly owned by the British and Dutch Royal/Dutch Shell, as well as subsidiaries of the American companies Standard Oil of California, Standard Oil of New Jersey and Sinclair Oil. the tough policy adopted by Britain. Despite its refusal to be associated with Britain on this matter, Washington ended up taking a hard line towards Mexico, but American officials went to great lengths to make policy appear consistent with the Good Neighbor policy. Totally reliant on overseas oil at a time when war seemed imminent, policy-makers in Britain immediately decided to prevent other countries from following Mexico's example by showing Mexico's policy to be a failure. Officials in Whitehall responsible for oil policy believed that secure access to foreign oil necessitated British ownership and control of oil supplies abroad whenever possible. Not only did Whitehall's concern about oil supplies in war focus policymakers, but the governmental machinery for formation of oil policy allowed for a consistent policy towards Mexico. Washington on the other hand lacked such machinery, and American officials displayed inconsistency in their policy toward Mexico. Also, the United States had plentiful indigenous supplies of oil, and Washington's main concern, to the disappointment of Whitehall, was increased trade with Mexico and other nations, rather than defending the more specific interests of the oil companies whose properties had been expropriated in Mexico.

International trade adds a thick layer of complexity to climate change mitigation efforts. Questions such as “Who is responsible for the emissions from China’s export sectors?” and “Will strengthening domestic climate policy measures lead to relocation of industry and emissions to countries with lax regulation?” are intensely discussed, both in policy and academic circles. Robust evidence on these issues remains limited, however. Many studies have quantified the volumes of embodied carbon in international trade using complex models, but the results appear very sensitive to the model specification, and conflicting results are reported across different studies. Similarly, the evidence on trade impacts from emissions reduction policies has so far relied largely on model simulations. This thesis combines two strands of work. The first part focuses on embodied carbon quantification. It critically reviews and compares the results and methods of existing work then goes on to conduct a first quantification exercise of global embodied carbon in bilateral trade at the product level. The second part measures the response of bilateral trade to industrial energy prices. It estimates the effect of energy price differences on bilateral trade flows, using a panel dataset covering over 80% of global merchandise trade over 16 years. These estimations are used to infer the effect of carbon price differences on trade. The first part reveals a complex mapping of global embodied carbon flows, contrary to the simplified picture portrayed by previous studies using aggregated models. Embodied carbon is found to be particularly concentrated in certain products and in regional trade. It suggests that rather viewing it as an Annex I vs non Annex I issue, grouping countries according to patterns of production and consumption may be more relevant in discussions surrounding climate policy and trade. The second part of the thesis finds evidence that trade tends to develop more between countries with different energy prices. However, this effect is small in magnitude and focused on a few sectors. The findings suggest that measures to ’prevent’ carbon leakage may have limited impact on most sectors, and should be targeted to those most likely to face adverse trade impacts.

This study examines the Singapore government's Suzhou Industrial Park project between 1992 and 1999. It argues that the Singapore governments' strategies can be explained as those of a 'transnational entrepreneurial state' participating in the global game of industrial production. As an interventionist government, it sought to realize financial profits in China to supplement economic growth in Singapore. The project involved two strategies designed to enhance the project's competitive advantages. Firstly, it introduced the competitive strategy to supply high quality secondary factors of production - such as industrial infrastructure and bureaucratic administration - to industrial transnational corporations seeking to locate in China. Secondly, it utilized the collaborative strategy to encourage complementary collaboration with the China government and several industrial transnational corporations. During the Construction Phase (1992-1994), both strategies were successfully implemented, enhancing the competitiveness of the Suzhou Industrial Park. During the Take-Off Phase (1994-1996), many industrial transnational corporations had responded positively to these competitive advantages and chose to locate their operations at the Suzhou Industrial Park. During the Adjustment Phase (1997-1998), the Suzhou Industrial Park lost competitiveness because of external factors such as the impact of the Asian Financial Crisis and also because of intense competition from other industrial estates in China. In the Disengagement Phase (1999), the Singapore transnational entrepreneurial state chose to withdraw from the project for economic and political reasons. This study concludes that the Singapore government differed from the archetypal interventionist state because of endogenous and exogenous factors. It became a transnational entrepreneurial state because by its resources and motivations, and its own assessment of its economic and political conditions. This study also found that the outcome of its strategies were not just dependent on how they were implemented but also on the actions of other agents, including collaborators and competitors, and the influence of the external environment.

This thesis argues that the explanation for underdevelopment should be sought primarily in the structural distortions of the domestic economy, the incoherence of national interests, as well as other internal political contradictions. By looking at the dynamics of Japan's relations with Nigeria between 1960 and 1985, it seeks to demonstrate how these factors militate not only against a beneficial interchange with a Northern economy, but against effective participation in the international economy. This constitutes a contrary diagnostic position to the literature which underpins the logic on which The Bretton Woods and Dependency Schools of thought are based. The thesis considers the following issues. First, it critically examines the role of the trading pattern, characterized by its vertical structure, along with trade policies, in the relationship between Nigeria and Japan. Secondly, it considers whether Japanese investments in Nigeria have contributed to the growth and development process in Nigeria. To that extent it considers whether they were merely part of a calculated trade objective; namely, the dominance of certain sectors of the Nigerian economy. The thesis also examines the role played by Nigerian domestic policies and its environment in determining the degree of reciprocity and interdependence. Finally, it seeks to assess the role played by Japanese aid and the degree of importance attached to Nigeria in particular and development issues in general in Japan's foreign policy. The thesis concludes that at the time of Nigeria's independence, the relationship was potentially one of interdependence and the explanation for any subsequent asymmetry needs to be sought in government's failure to mobilize national potential and in terms of the operation of the international market economy. At issue is not just the nature of a particular bilateral relationship but the management of North-South relations.

The thesis uses Bangladesh as a model to test a "dependence paradigm". It posits that the sudden influx of resources that foreign aid brings does not necessarily lead to the social development and equitable economic growth which might have been expected because micro-economic forces tend to predominate over conventional macro-economic development theory. Instead it results in increasing inequity. The government and upper classes divert the largest proportion of the resources being provided and use them for reasons other than that for which they were meant. More inequitable distribution of income in turn justifies the continued need for foreign aid. The aid provided, justified by poverty, becomes a necessary part of the government's resources, discouraging domestic resource mobilisation and self-reliance. The dimensions of poverty and the nature and evidence of the country's dependence are reviewed. As the amount of aid "appropriated" increases, the government is increasingly dependent on its continuation and more constrained by the conditions attached to it by the donors. The paper then goes on to explain that foreign aid donors tolerate this diversion of aid resources because they measure the results of aid in terms of quantity, not quality. Nor are they prepared to provide adequate means by which to plan, administer, monitor and evaluate the use to which aid is put. The quality of aid is not an issue that serves either their domestic needs or foreign policy objectives. The successes in Bangladesh are shown to be attributable either to market forces or to foreign aid which does not lend itself to diversion by the upper classes. Some comparisons show that the phenomenon of a "resource windfall" leading to "appropriation" by the upper classes exists in other countries and is not unique to Bangladesh. The study concludes that unless appropriate aid is provided with sound ad-ministration, which uses, to the fullest, available expertise in the country, then increasing inequity and dependence are bound to result.

The objective of this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of the development of the housebuilding industry in Korea. Starting from a description of the growth of the industry in the regulated environment, relevant theories are investigated. Based on both theory and evidence, an analytic framework is then developed from which four main research areas are drawn. The first area is an analysis of the structure of the Korean housebuilding business. The focus is on the investigation of governance structure within the housebuilding business and determinants of that structure. The second area is an examination of efficiency in the housebuilding business. Cost structures of the housebuilding business, the input factor relationship, the extent of economies of scale, and productivity are evaluated. The third area is an analysis of the building firms' diversification strategy. The extent of diversification among housebuilding firms, the changing pattern and the motives for that diversification are examined. Finally, the fourth area brings these elements together to investigate the efficiency of the firms' diversified production structure by estimating multi-product cost functions. Interviews and secondary data sources were used to examine the structure of the Korean housebuilding business. For the analyses of the efficiency of the business, multiproduct firms, and the firms' diversification strategy, econometric modelling techniques such as Translog cost function estimation and multivariate regression estimation were employed. The cost structure of the Korean housebuilding business was found to be price inelastic, with relatively low productivity and increasing returns to scale. Firms tended to depend on 'contracting' throughout the production process and also showed diversified production structures. Diversification was motivated by avoiding risks and uncertainty within the housebuilding business and by using retained resources efficiently. The diversification strategy was found to be economically efficient, although the estimated optimum scale suggests that the current scale of the firms may be too large.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.