Why do Indian firms go abroad?

Overseas investments by the emerging economies are a feature of globalisation. Investments by Indian firms, though not large in volume, differ from that of other emerging economies such as China in their composition, destination and modality of investments. A relatively high proportion of their investments are in the manufacturing and services sectors of the developed economies such as the UK and the USA. A number of statistical studies have attempted to identify the factors motivating Indian firms to invest abroad. Most of these studies attempt to ground the analysis in the received theory of foreign direct investment centred on the ownership advantages, location and internalisation (OLI) paradigm. This paper argues that statistical tests cannot fully account for the unique nature of India’s investments abroad. The pattern of investments that differs from that of the other emerging economies is to be attributed to India’s endowments of entrepreneurial skills centring on exploration of investment opportunities and astute management of complex organisations. These endowments are an inheritance from history augmented by the contribution of India’s diaspora abroad. The lukewarm investment climate at home may also be a factor in the decision of Indian firms in technology and skill intensive firms to venture abroad. Explanations for the unique nature of overseas direct investments by Indian firms have to be sought in the organisational structure and history of Indian business houses

Foundation to Promote Scholarship and Teaching 2013-2014 Awards

Proposal abstracts of 2013-2014 award recipients in a wide range of disciplinary areas

Measuring the economic impact of immigration: A scoping paper

This discussion paper has three objectives. Firstly, it provides a brief review of recent international empirical research on the labour market impact of immigration. The synthesis of this literature is facilitated by reference to the results from a recent meta-analysis of the impact of immigration on wages. Secondly, the paper briefly reviews international research on other dimensions of the economic impact of immigration, namely productivity and technical change, trade and international relations, the fiscal impact, socio-economic impacts and externalities, and economy-wide (general equilibrium) effects. The approach adopted in considering each of these impacts is to identify the main issues associated with the particular impact, followed by key international references and, where available, New Zealand references on the particular type of impact. The gaps in NZ research are then identified along with any difficulties with the data available for replicating the international studies in New Zealand. Thirdly, the paper seeks to identify feasible (in terms of data availability) suggestions for further research that would add to our knowledge of the economic impact of immigration in New Zealand