This thesis attempts to show that, although it is in the interest of regional common market organizations to regulate foreign direct investment, such regulation will probably be unsuccessful unless the regulations are lenient to business and are not used as instruments of major political goals. The east African Community, the Andean Common Market, and the European Economic Community are examined. Research sources used were United States government publications, documents from the common markets involved, United Nations and International Monetary Fund statistics, articles from major political science and business journals, and books.

Depuis plus de trois décennies, la mobilité internationale des firmes et des facteurs de production compte l‟un des aspects les plus importants de la mondialisation. Les économies deviennent donc de plus en plus interdépendantes. Les investissements directs étrangers (IDE) se placent au centre de ce processus de mondialisation et les firmes multinationales (FMN) sont les principaux acteurs dans les stratégies de développement des pays d‟accueil. Croyant profiter des « spillovers », les pays d‟accueil se trouvent pris dans un processus de concurrence acharnée afin d‟attirer les investisseurs étrangers. Un tel processus conduit les pays d‟accueil à s‟engager dans des programmes d‟amélioration de leurs déterminants économiques et institutionnels d‟une part, et d‟accroître leur ouverture aux échanges internationaux en s‟engageant dans des processus d‟intégration régionale particulièrement dans les zones régionales de libre échange d‟autre part. L‟objectif de cette thèse est d‟évaluer la nature de la relation directe et indirecte entre les institutions ou de la qualité institutionnelle et l‟attractivité dans le cas des pays du sud et de l‟est de la Méditerranée (PSEM). Pour cela nous étudions empiriquement dans un premier temps l‟impact direct des institutions et particulièrement de la gouvernance sur l‟attractivité des PSEM et dans un second temps, nous explorons la nature de la relation indirecte entre l‟attractivité et les institutions via un canal de transmission qui est l‟intégration régionale à partir d‟une étude empirique de l‟impact de l‟intégration régionale sur l‟attractivité des pays de la zone. La qualité des institutions est validée comme déterminant important dans l‟attractivité des pays et dans l‟encadrement des processus d‟intégration régionale. En revanche, dans le cas des PSEM, l‟intégration régionale n‟est pas source d‟attractivité des IDE. Les pays de la zone doivent donc mener des politiques portant sur les institutions afin d‟améliorer leur attractivité vis-à-vis des IDE. / For over three decades, the international mobility of firms and factors of production has one of the most important aspects of globalization. The economies thus become increasingly interdependent. Foreign direct investments (FDI) are placed in the center of this process of globalization and multinational corporations (MNCs) are the main actors in the development strategies of the host country. Believing enjoy the "spillovers", host countries are caught in a process of intense competition to attract foreign investors. This process led the host country to engage in programs to improve their economic and institutional determinants on the one hand, and increase their openness to international trade by engaging in regional integration processes particularly in regional free trade zones on the other. The objective of this thesis is to evaluate the nature of the direct and indirect relationship between institutions or institutional quality and attractiveness in the case of MENA countries. For this we look empirically at first the direct impact of institutions, especially governance on the attractiveness of MENA countries and in a second step, we explore the nature of the indirect relationship between attractiveness and institutions through a channel transmission which is regional integration from an empirical study of the impact of regional integration on the attractiveness of countries in the region. The quality of institutions is validated as an important determinant of the attractiveness of the country and in the supervision of the regional integration process. However, in the case of MENA countries, regional integration is not source of attraction for FDI. The zone countries must pursue policies on institutions to improve their attractiveness vis-à-vis FDI.

The thesis analyses the investment development path (IDP) of CEE countries and discusses their movement to its later stages, which is conditioned by in- crease in outward foreign direct investment (FDI). Providing evidence on data until 2012, it enables to test the impact of global financial crisis on the validity of IDP and the stages reached by particular CEE countries. Moreover, the thesis explores the effect of inward reinvestment of earnings on the ability to move to later stages through the relationship with outward FDI, which has not been tested in the literature yet. The thesis on a cross-sectional basis shows that: a) CEE countries follow IDP; however, when using subsamples, it holds only for more developed ones; b) contrary to literature before crisis, CEE countries did not reach the third stage of IDP, which suggests that crisis could have caused movement back along their IDP; c) reinvestment of earnings positively influ- ences outward FDI. According to the latter, countries with high reinvestment of earnings and inward FDI stock are identified and is concluded that they are likely to enter the third stage of IDP. However, further research is needed as also other determinants are relevant for outward FDI, not only reinvestment of earnings.

This work analyses industry level Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows in order to find out if their determinants are the same for all industries or if they differ and how. The second important question is if various qualitative variables as labour market or product market liberalization or taxation determines flows to individual industries. I analyse seven industries by System GMM model for period from 1994 till 2009. The results suggests that inflows to each industry are driven by distinct set of determinants. While there are nearly non-significant determinants for agriculture among explanatory variables I used, there is many of them significant for services. Concerning qualitative variables, labour market liberalization influence FDI inflows to manufacturing and mining, product market liberalization influence inflows to transportation and electricity, gas and water industry. The level of taxation seem to be significant determinant of FDI inflows to manufacturing. Keywords FDI, Foreign direct investment by industry, Structural reforms, Labour Market, Lib- eralization, GMM, taxation 4

Cette thèse étudie l’impact des institutions, notamment les institutions financières, sur le commerce et les investissements internationaux. Les quatre premiers chapitres étudient les institutions financières et leur impact sur le commerce et la spécialisation internationale. Précisément, le premier chapitre étudie ces institutions et les déterminants de leur niveau de développement. Le deuxième chapitre analyse la façon dont la finance intervient sur le commerce bilatéral. Le troisième chapitre construit un modèle théorique qui vise à expliquer l’impact de la finance sur le commerce sectoriel en fonction du degré d’intensité financière de chaque secteur. Le quatrième chapitre analyse l’impact hétérogène de la finance sur les différents secteurs manufacturiers. Le dernier chapitre de la thèse utilise le terme “institution” dans un sens plus large et étudie théoriquement et empiriquement si les similitudes et différences dans les environnements institutionnels à travers les pays explique la distribution internationale des investissements directs étrangers (IDE). / This thesis examines the impact of institutions, especially the financial institutions, on international trade and foreign direct investments. The first four chapters study the financial institutions and their impact on trade and international specialization. Specifically, the first chapter examines these financial institutions and the determinants of their level of development. The second chapter examines how finance impacts bilateral trade. The third chapter builds a theoretical model and aims to explain the impact of finance on the sectoral trade as a function of the degree of financial intensity of each sector. The fourth chapter analyzes the heterogeneous impact of finance on the different manufacturing sectors. The last chapter of the thesis uses the term "institution" in a broader sense and studies theoretically and empirically whether the similarities and differences in institutional environments across countries explain the international patterns of foreign direct investment (FDI).

The main purpose of this study is to focus on Korean outward foreign direct investment (FDI) in the automotive industry of the Czech and Slovak Republic, and to analyze consequences of Hyundai Motors investment for the Czech national economy. In doing so, this study is divided into the three parts. First theoretical part is concentrated on examination of current trend of FDI flows, its impact on developing and host countries, and theories and models of FDI. Second part is focused on analysis of consequences of investment policy generally. Final part is analyzing Korean, Slovak and Czech automotive industry and the impact of Hyundai Motor Company investment decision for the Czech Republic

Diploma thesis "Comparison of systems and impacts of investment incentives in Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Ireland" compares investment incentives in Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Ireland in terms of their development and current situation. Furthermore it compares conditions under which investment incentives can be granted. It also compares their impact on foreign direct investments in terms of their inflow, structure and regional distribution in the country. Part of the thesis also deals with comparison of current situation in these countries in terms of investor's risk and international competitiveness when gaining investments.

The aim of this thesis is to describe economic trends in countries of the Visegrad Group between 2000 and 2009 and to analyze their economic relations with the EU. The description and analysis are based on Eurostat statistics. Economic indicators which are monitored in this thesis and statistical methods used are defined in the first chapter. The second chapter contains a description of the Visegrad Group and ist member states. The third chapter analyzes similarity of basic internal balance indicators' changes in the countries of Visegrad Group and in EU member states. The fourth chapter deals with the territorial structure of trade of the Visegrad Group. The final chapter is devoted to the geographic origin of foreign direct investment inflows in the Visegrad countries.

The principal objective of the work is to determine particularities of global FDI flows during the current economic crisis vis-a-vis preceding years. It is divided into four main parts and at first starts with a general description of FDIs. Then a description of behaviour of FDIs during 2000-2006 is provided and several indicators used by UNCTAD in its WIRs are also presented. After that, as soon as the development of FDIs at the beginning of the present century is known, a detailed text revealing the evolution of global FDI flows since the beginning of the crisis till the end of 2009 comes. The last important chapter is dedicated to the detection of particularitites of global FDI flows, whereas findings gained in previous parts have been also used.

The main objective of the diploma thesis is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the current investment climate in the United Kingdom and France, and to draw their comparison. It includes an analysis of significant political, economic, social, technological and legal factors, as well as assessment of available investment incentives. The thesis also contains an evaluation of FDI inflows to both countries. The thesis is consequently aimed at determining mutual competitive advantages of the United Kingdom and France.