Institutional Quality and FDI to the South: An Analytical Approach

We ask whether MNEs’ experience of institutional quality and political risk within their “home†business environments influences their decisions to enter a given country. We set out an explicit theoretical model that allows for the possibility that firms from South source countries may, by virtue of their experience with poor institutional quality, derive a competitive advantage over firms from North countries with respect to investing in destinations in the South. We show that the experience gained by such MNEs of poorer institutional environments may result in their being more prepared to invest in other countries with correspondingly weak institutions.foreign direct investment, multinational enterprises, institutional quality

Does Public Governance always Matter? How Experience of Poor Institutional Quality Influences FDI to the South

This paper investigates whether the higher prevalence of South multinational enterprises (MNEs) in risky developing countries may be explained by the experience that they have acquired of poor institutional quality at home. We confirm the intuition provided by our analytical model by empirically showing that the positive impact of good public governance on foreign direct investment (FDI) in a given host country is moderated significantly, and even in some cases eliminated, when MNEs have been faced with poor institutional quality at home.South-South FDI, public governance, institutions

Institutional Quality and FDI to the South An Analytical Approach

We ask whether MNEs’ experience of institutional quality and political risk within their “home” business environments influences their decisions to enter a given country. We set out an explicit theoretical model that allows for the possibility that firms from South source countries may, by virtue of their experience with poor institutional quality, derive a competitive advantage over firms from North countries with respect to investing in destinations in the South. We show that the experience gained by such MNEs of poorer institutional environments may result in their being more prepared to invest in other countries with correspondingly weak institutions

Recognising the cognitive functions involved in productivity loss associated with temperature changes

A poor indoor environment can detrimentally impact occupants’ health, wellbeing and productivity. Indoor temperature is an important and easily controlled parameter of indoor environment quality and might affect productivity. Productivity is a general term that describes the ability to perform tasks, relying on cognitive systems such as executive function, memory and attention. Research to date has tended to view ‘productivity’ as a single construct and has not asked whether the various mental components underpinning productivity are affected differently by realistic changes in the environment. In this study, 54 participants undertook a range of cognitive tests – each tapping different underlying cognitive abilities – within an environmental chamber under different temperatures. It is shown that working memory and certain executive function tasks are the most affected functions of productivity and indicate a clear optimum range of 17˚C to 25˚ C (in UK climate); tasks such as visual search showed no effect of temperature. However, the effects of environmental conditions were smaller than the differences between individual participants that were observed. This important inter-person variation notwithstanding, understanding the impact of temperature on cognitive functions will impact both productivity and energy use within offices. Significantly, this has environmental and financial implications on building operation and staff productivity. <br/

FDI, Trade Costs and Regional Assymetries

We set up a trade model where three countries compete for an exogenous number of firms. Our innovation lies in the geography of the model. Of the three countries, one is the hub through which all trade takes place. First, we establish the natural geography of the region, which is given by the equilibrium distribution of industrial activity in the absence of taxes or subsidies. We then examine the implications for corporate taxes when the countries compete with each other to attract firms. We find that, even when all countries are the same size, the centrality of the hub gives it an advantage in tax setting, such that its equilibrium tax can be larger than that of the spokes and yet it still attracts a disproportionate share of industry. Thus geographic advantage in tax competition has a second dimension, centrality in addition to size

Does Public Governance Always Matter? How Experience of Poor Institutional Quality Influences FDI to the South*

This paper investigates whether the higher prevalence of South multinational enterprises (MNEs) in risky developing countries may be explained by the experience that they have acquired of poor institutional quality at home. We confirm the intuition provided by our analytical model by empirically showing that the positive impact of good public governance on foreign direct investment (FDI) in a given host country is moderated significantly, and even in some cases eliminated, when MNEs have been faced with poor institutional quality at home