Book Description

The first section of this report identifies and discusses the range of policies that governments can implement to directly or indirectly influence inward foreign direct investment (FDI), as well as the behaviour of multinational companies in the host market. The following section sets out public policy criteria against which to evaluate the consequences of Canadian government policies toward inward FDI. The next section reviews the determinants of inward FDI, drawing upon the existing economic and international business literature. The subsequent two sections contain a broad overview of inward FDI patterns to Canada over the post-war period, with preliminary inferences about the influence of public policies on inward FDI flows, and discuss significant policy initiatives directed at influencing either the quantity of quality of inward FDI. These include the Foreign Investment Review Act, the Investment Canada Act, and the North American Free Trade Agreement. This is followed by a section that identifies Canadian government policies directed at restricting inward FDI at the sectoral level (financial services, oil and gas, communications). Welfare economics arguments for and against sectoral foreign ownership restrictions are considered. Original economic models of FDI for Canada are then discussed and case studies are presented of the consequences of foreign ownership and the impacts of foreign ownership policies on the three sectors mentioned above. The final section concludes the report with a summary and a set of policy recommendations.