Understanding the Location of Foreign Direct Investment

Overall, the book finds that the regional benefit of FDI location is unlikely to be long-lasting, owing both to the nature of plant reinvestment and to the effect of agglomeration economics on FDI location.

This book brings together previous work by the authors that explores the location of foreign direct investment. It uses a broad range of approaches and quantitative techniques. The issues that are addressed concern the changing nature of FDI location, its determinants, and the role of policy in attracting FDI. The chapters of this book focus on the UK experience, but also analyse the location determinants at a European level. The authors present expert analysis that charts the increase in FDI since the mid-1980s and examines the shift in manufacturing and service location, arguing that these result from policy changes and the creation of the European Single Market. Overall, the book finds that the regional benefit of FDI location is unlikely to be long-lasting, owing both to the nature of plant reinvestment and to the effect of agglomeration economics on FDI location.