New forms of international investment: a study of alternative strategies to foreign investment

This study is concerned with recent developments in international investment and the theory of the firm. The proposition that markets and hierarchies are alternative governance structures for completing related sets of transactions is less contentious. However, the view that foreign direct investment is the most efficient governance structure, in transaction-cost economizing terms, remains controversial. This research identifies with this contention. The premise of the study is that the governance structure of foreign transactions cannot be confined to or decided within the framework of hierarchy alone. The study presents a number of market mechanisms firms use to accomplish foreign transactions. Termed "New Forms of International Investment", these strategies involve non-equity (i.e. contractual/cooperative) and minority-equity arrangements. Hypotheses concerning the transaction cost nature and the impact of managerial perceptions of several explanatory factors were developed and tested using data gathered from a questionnaire survey of, and interviews with, executives from 66 MNCs and 31 MNBs. The results of the research provide evidence that while firm-specific characteristics offer firms opportunities to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses in relation to given overseas markets, host country-specific characteristics offer a complementary platform for assessing the optimum mode of entry. Also, managerial perceptions of the nature and importance of these factors and their impact on the diversification strategy of the firm were found to be significant in entry mode choices. The greater the perception of distortion propensities in a host country, the more likely resources, insofar as they would be transferred at all, would be transacted via new forms. There was no evidence to support the literature contention that the use of the new forms is a particular phenomenon of developing countries. These findings were reinforced by the interview results

Do strategic alliances add value?: an empirical examination at industry and firm levels in European banking

Strategic alliances are a prevalent form of business organization. The critical characteristics of strategic alliances are detailed using Coase (1937) and the resulting definition tested through primary research and the alternative form, the infrastructure alliance posited. The thesis examines whether strategic alliances add value in the European banking sector through four types of analysis at two levels of engagement - a 23 historical review (at industry level); a review of over 400 papers in the academic literature; a questionnaire survey (at firm level) and in-depth interviews (at firm level). Bankers high pre-existing propensity to enter into strategic alliances is determined and three lifecycles, and the underpinning, conditions identified - Clubs and Consortium Banks, Bankassurance and the Virtual bank - the latter involving a fundamental change in Coase (1937) enabled by the underpinning technology. Bankers were found to be followers of potential business steams and the strategic alliance was one form of market entry. The questionnaire research, however, identified European bankers prefer to enter into alliances (as opposed to own branch or M&A) only in countries which had the appropriate supporting conditions such as definable, enforceable and terminable contracts, the provision of accounting information, stable governments and economic freedom. Direct discussions with senior bankers resulted in a number of valuable insights into the conceiving, forming, organizing evolving and dissolving of alliances. Further research into the infrastructure alliance, including 'oscillation' between infrastructure and strategic forms is proposed. The Co-Evolution Model of Strategic Alliances is proposed and taxonomy consisting of parallel co-evolution, convergent coevolution, divergent co-evolution and the subsidiary taxonomy of differential parallel coevolution, differential convergent co-evolution and differential divergent co-evolution detailed and further research suggested. Strategic alliances are found to add value in European banking but this value is contingent on the strength of the business stream, the global, national and industry conditions and the nature of managerial decisions and drive

Trade unions and employment relationship in privatised state enterprises : a case-study of the finance and petroleum industries in Nigeria

Privatisation (defined as change of ownership and control of State-owned enterprises- SOEs) is a controversial economic and political policy that elicits diverse opinions and academic conclusions on its impact. With regard to its impact on industrial relations, the privatisation literature concludes that in most privatised SOEs, problems anise between unions and management over some important dimensions of the employment relationship. This Author's search of the privatisation literature led to the emergence of two hypotheses, as follows: I. The employment relationship changes in its expression and management in privatised enterprises as a consequence of the change in ownership and control, structure and product market competition arising from privatisation; and, 2. The employment relationship in privatised enterprises changes, not necessarily as a consequence of privatisation, but as a consequence of changes in managerial/corporate strategies, national and firm-level industrial relations policies and other environmental factors not related to privatisation. Data was collected from two privatised finance SOEs and one privatised petroleum SOE in Nigeria to test these hypotheses. Some key findings emerged which differ slightly from the conclusions of the privatisation literature, as represented by these two hypotheses. First, the study concludes that contrary to the conclusion of the privatisation literature, the observed changes in the employment relationship of privatised SOEs are mediated by the different effects of environmental and sectoral factors, economic centrality, the nature of the unions involved in bargaining and the balance of bargaining power between unions and management, as determined by the development context of the country concerned. Secondly, the study concludes that contrary to the conclusions of the privatisation literature, the employment relationship in privatised enterprises changes as a consequence of changes in managerial/corporate strategies and fin-n-level industrial relations strategies directly related to privatisation. These conclusions suggest the need to slightly modify the conclusions of the privatisation literature and theory to take account of the economic, institutional and political differences between developing and developed economies, rather than seek to apply similar theories and conclusions to both development contexts like is currently the case

Trade unions and employment relationship in privatised state enterprises : a case-study of the finance and petroleum industries in Nigeria

Privatisation (defined as change of ownership and control of State-owned enterprises- SOEs) is a controversial economic and political policy that elicits diverse opinions and academic conclusions on its impact. With regard to its impact on industrial relations, the privatisation literature concludes that in most privatised SOEs, problems anise between unions and management over some important dimensions of the employment relationship. This Author's search of the privatisation literature led to the emergence of two hypotheses, as follows: I. The employment relationship changes in its expression and management in privatised enterprises as a consequence of the change in ownership and control, structure and product market competition arising from privatisation; and, 2. The employment relationship in privatised enterprises changes, not necessarily as a consequence of privatisation, but as a consequence of changes in managerial/corporate strategies, national and firm-level industrial relations policies and other environmental factors not related to privatisation. Data was collected from two privatised finance SOEs and one privatised petroleum SOE in Nigeria to test these hypotheses. Some key findings emerged which differ slightly from the conclusions of the privatisation literature, as represented by these two hypotheses. First, the study concludes that contrary to the conclusion of the privatisation literature, the observed changes in the employment relationship of privatised SOEs are mediated by the different effects of environmental and sectoral factors, economic centrality, the nature of the unions involved in bargaining and the balance of bargaining power between unions and management, as determined by the development context of the country concerned. Secondly, the study concludes that contrary to the conclusions of the privatisation literature, the employment relationship in privatised enterprises changes as a consequence of changes in managerial/corporate strategies and fin-n-level industrial relations strategies directly related to privatisation. These conclusions suggest the need to slightly modify the conclusions of the privatisation literature and theory to take account of the economic, institutional and political differences between developing and developed economies, rather than seek to apply similar theories and conclusions to both development contexts like is currently the case.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Legal Political Moral Hazard: Does the Dodd-Frank Act End too Big to Fail?

Article published in the Ala. C.R. & C.Law Law Review

"A lesson in London's Geography"? Canary Wharf and local responses to global investment.

PhDThe principal contention of this thesis is that the problems Canary Wharf has faced, thus far, in establishing itself as an international financial centre can be best understood within an analysis of its competitive relationship with the City of London, perceived in a broad economic and political sense. This competitive relationship is considered at two distinct but related levels. First, as one between neighbouring local coalitions where the relationship is characterised by intra-urban competition for London's global financial services. It is shown that the City's political response has been determined by its perception that Canary Wharf represents a political threat because of its potential to undermine the City's status as London's preeminent location for global financial services, and also an economic threat because of its related potential to undermine City land values. The City's competitive response is principally manifest in the radical (pro-development) overhaul of its planning system that took place in the mid to late 1980s. Thus, in the first place, the City's political response undermined Canary Wharf's ability to establish itself as a new node for global financial services. Secondly, it is argued, the relationship between Canary Wharf and the City illustrates a complex interplay between global forces manifested locally at Canary Wharf and economic and social processes local to the City of London. It is shown how such local processes further constrain the global ambitions of Canary Wharf. Thus, the reluctance of financial institutions to locate at Canary Wharf is explained by agglomeration economies, the continuing 'need' for face-to-face contact, the 'need' amongst financial institutions for the City's 'comfort factor', and the dominant perception of Canary Wharf as 'foreign territory', an unacceptable location for financial services. The combined impact of the local political, economic and social processes outlined above have shaped the marketing strategies adopted at Canary Wharf over time, and it is now marketed as London's 'third business district'. However, the 'reshaped Canary Wharf continues to illicit a competitive response from the City. A number of factors have recently combined to herald a renewed period of intense intra-urban competition, illustrating the complex nature of the relationship between Canary Wharf and the City. Through the two sets of analyses, the case study is intended to address wider processes of urban restructuring and urban change, including the changing role of local governance, the use of regime theory in understanding the role of local processes in urban change, and the 'global/local interplay'

Competitive intelligence and its effect on UK banking strategy

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

The Spectacle of Neoclassical Economics: The Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development Project and Exploitation in the Niger Delta and the Chad Basin

In recent years, neoclassical economic literature has undergone a fundamental change of emphasis, from orthodox neoclassical to neoinstitutional theory. World Bank research and high-level policy departments have reflected this change by shifting from development as ‘structural adjustment’ to development as ‘governance’. I engage the case of the Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development Project (CCPDP) to argue that the neoclassical economic shift is a spectacle or exhibit, irrelevant in important ways to exploitation “on the ground.” Contrary to neoclassical economics and World Bank development rationales, the CCPDP is a hyper-documented project with a hyperrestricted scope, typical of commodity exploitation in Central Africa and elsewhere. I use the case of key commodity exploitation over the last 600 years in Nigeria to show parallels with the CCPDP. First, I show the use of exhibits, spectacular violence and quotidian control in exploitation of Nigeria from slave trade with dynastic canoe houses through petroleum production at the time of nominal independence. Second, Watts’ examination of petroleum exploitation through the lens of the oil complex and the petrostate provides detailed analysis of the “ungovernable governmentality” that characterizes such exploitation in Nigeria and in the larger “oil complex.” Thirdly, I examine writing on CSR as well as evidence that political instability can be a competitive advantage. This undercuts the important neoclassical economic development notion that business simply “does business” while government and civil society are responsible for human welfare. In my conclusion I offer provisional areas where the project points to further research. These include the importance of interdisciplinary regional focus on the Chad basin and the Gulf of Guinea, including the value of business literature; ways of effectively examining social movement pressure and corporate response; and the implications of designing a project around governmentality and relational power for studies of hegemony, power and development

Banking and innovation: The case of payment systems modernisation in Thailand.

This thesis examines the role of banks in influencing innovation and analyses their links to payment systems modernisation. The main argument is that banks are a type of technological institution having the potential to promote innovation, although such roles may be implicit or secondary. This role is investigated in eight chapters. The first three chapters review the major innovation models and progress in payment system. An analytical framework, based on evolutionary and resource-based views, is developed to examine how resources and routines which reflect an organisation's stock of skills, influence innovation, and assist them in sustaining competitive advantage. The following three chapters present the empirical results. In a survey of innovation in the banking industry, research results suggested that although there were relatively high levels of information technology awareness and application, particularly in payment system automation, there remained a moderate level of innovative capabilities among the banks studied. Further analysis through four mini case studies of the largest commercial banks also suggested similar increases in technological investments, but replication rates were also relatively high. Thus, it is argued that such investments may gain, but not sustain, competitive advantage, whereby the latter requires banks to innovate by acquiring, accumulating, and advancing their stock of skills. In this respect, the role of the central bank in creating a conducive environment for innovation is also important which may be seen through its involvement in payment systems modernisation. The final two chapters discuss the policy and research implications. It is argued that central bank policies oriented towards payment system reform, along with new payment product and services development by commercial banks, have come to play an important part in promoting technological innovation in banking. Such roles in reforming rudimentary payment systems have helped strengthen national information infrastructures, especially in emerging market economies, and moreover, have influenced the set-up of a national innovation system in banking which underpins economic development