Real Options Theory


Book Description

Examines the ways in which real options theory can contribute to strategic management. This volume offers conceptual pieces that trace out pathways for the theory to move forward and presents research on the implications of real options for strategic investment, organization, and firm performance.




Cooperation and Technological Endowment in International Joint Ventures: German Firms in China


Book Description

A frequent choice for market entry to China is the international joint venture (IJV) with a Chinese partner. This is regarded as an adequate market entry if complex technological knowledge is to be transferred to the new location. However, IJVs also represent an easy way for local partners to absorb technological knowledge without authorization. Michael Hoeck investigates the character and the degree of technology transfer into IJVs, using the example of German industrial firms in China. The two central questions that are investigated are „What factors influence the sophistication of the technological endowment that an IJV in China receives from its German parents?“ and „In what way do strategic considerations regarding inter-firm cooperation and knowledge sharing influence the foreign investor’s technology transfer behaviour?“. The study results – derived from theoretical and empirical analysis – presents novel insights to both researchers and practitioners.




International Licensing Agreements


Book Description

Like any contract, an international licensing agreement spells out the rights and obligations of the contracting parties, manages potential risks and supplies a contingency plan for each party in the event the contractual relationship breaks down. However, international licensing of intellectual property, software or technology confronts the contracting parties with its own distinct challenges. When planning, drafting and negotiating such agreements, it is imperative to know exactly what core issues need to be addressed. This book provides this know-how in an easy-to-use, clear and concise fashion. This expert guide to the complex world of international licensing agreements brings together all the essential materials needed when dealing with such agreements and covers the following: • business models that may be used by the contracting parties; • standard provisions encountered in an array of international licensing agreements; • analysis of the key clauses in various international licensing agreements inter alia trademark, software, franchise and technology licences with provisions as affected by jurisdiction; • effect of competition law in a variety of jurisdictions; • ensuring trademark protection at both national and international levels; • clear explanation of key franchising terminology and disclosure rules; and • effect of international dispute resolution rules in a range of jurisdictions. Alongside detailed contract analysis, the book details numerous case studies from an array of industries, with detailed commentary. Practitioners operating within or representing medium to large firms who normally have to prepare or provide advice on international licence arrangements will quickly find this reference material indispensable. The book’s thorough analysis of this complex area will also be welcomed by professionals working for universities, industry, interest groups, government departments and international organisations.




Promoting and Managing International Investment


Book Description

This book provides an overview of international investment policy and policy-making, drawing upon perspectives from law, economics, international business, and political science. International investment is a complex phenomenon with significant effects worldwide. Developing effective policies and strategies to attract investment in sufficient quantities and marshal it to contribute to sustainable development is a critical challenge for governments at all levels. This book’s interdisciplinary approach provides fresh insights into the mix of policy options available to governments seeking investment to support their country’s (or region’s) development. As well as identifying ways to effectively design, implement, and assess policies to attract foreign investment, it explores how to manage foreign investment’s effects. Various dimensions of international investment policy are discussed, including benefits and costs (economic, environmental, social, and political) of foreign investment, the significance of global value chains, state-owned enterprises and sovereign wealth funds, and the role of tax policy, investment promotion, and policy advocacy, location branding, investment treaties, and national security considerations. Through its contributions to a new interdisciplinary understanding of international investment policy-making, this book will benefit students and scholars working in areas such as international business, international economic law, international economics, development economics, international development, and international political economy as well as being a valuable resource for policy-makers.




China's Quest for Foreign Technology


Book Description

This book analyzes China’s foreign technology acquisition activity and how this has helped its rapid rise to superpower status. Since 1949, China has operated a vast and unique system of foreign technology spotting and transfer aimed at accelerating civilian and military development, reducing the cost of basic research, and shoring up its power domestically and abroad—without running the political risks borne by liberal societies as a basis for their creative developments. While discounted in some circles as derivative and consigned to perpetual catch-up mode, China’s "hybrid" system of legal, illegal, and extralegal import of foreign technology, combined with its indigenous efforts, is, the authors believe, enormously effective and must be taken seriously. Accordingly, in this volume, 17 international specialists combine their scholarship to portray the system’s structure and functioning in heretofore unseen detail, using primary Chinese sources to demonstrate the perniciousness of the problem in a manner not likely to be controverted. The book concludes with a series of recommendations culled from the authors’ interactions with experts worldwide. This book will be of much interest to students of Chinese politics, US foreign policy, intelligence studies, science and technology studies, and International Relations in general.




The Boundaries of the Firm


Book Description

What is the nature of the firm? Why do firms adopt certain strategies in preference to others? What are the competitive implications of large firm mergers and alliances for government policy? These are extremely important and highly topical questions which tend to be treated separately in most contemporary analysis. However, in this new book based on his original research, Neil Kay shows how these questions are closely inter-related and explores the implications this has for the formulation of corporate strategy and public policy.




Knowledge Diffusion Through FDI: Worldwide Firm-Level Evidence


Book Description

This paper examines the impact of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on knowledge diffusion by analyzing the effect of firm-level FDI activities on cross-border patent citations. We construct a novel firm-level panel dataset that combines worldwide utility patent and citations data with project-level greenfield FDI and crossborder mergers and acquisitions (M&A) data over the past two decades, covering firms across 60 countries. Applying a new local projection difference-indifferences methodology, our analysis reveals that FDI significantly enhances knowledge flows both from and to the investing firms. Citation flows between investing firms and host countries increase by up to around 10.6% to 13% in five years after the initial investment. These effects are stronger when host countries have higher innovation capacities or are technologically more similar to the investing firm. We also uncover knowledge spillovers beyond targeted firms and industries in host countries, which are particularly more pronounced for sectors closely connected in the technology space.




Beyond Confrontation


Book Description

Beyond Confrontation by Phil Mullan negotiates a third way between the rules-based global order dictated by Western globalists and the mercantilist protectionism of Western nationalists, both of which only fuel resentments between developed and emerging nations.




Foreign Direct Investment and Performance Requirements


Book Description

In theory foreign direct investment allows developing countries to integrate with international markets and develop their economies. However sometimes the benefits are less than expected and countries use performance requirements in an attempt to improve the situation. These requirements can be contentious, as developed countries often associate them with interventionist strategies whilst developing countries see them as tools previously used by the developed countries when they were industrialising. This book is a contribution to the debate based on four case studies (Chile, India, Malaysia, South Africa) and the experience of the developed world.




An Investment Perspective on Global Value Chains


Book Description

This report investigates the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) in helping developing countries participate in global value chains (GVCs). It combines the perspectives and strategies from three types of players: multinational corporations, domestic firms and governments. It aims to provide practical guidance for developing countries to develop strategies that use FDI to strengthen GVC participation and upgrading. The report has six main chapters: 1. FDI and GVCs. Assesses the trade-investment nexus and analyzes the effect of FDI in countries’ GVC participation and upgrading at the country level. 2. MNCs shape GVC development. Highlights MNCs' contribution to global economy and how their business strategies shape the evolution of GVCs. The chapter also compares MNCs' business strategies in terms of outsourcing and offshoring, risk mitigation and increasing market power across GVC archetypes. 3. Domestic firm perspectives on GVC participation. Looks at the various paths domestic firms can take to internationalize their production and trade. Investigates domestic firm characteristics that predict higher GVC participation, and the effect of GVC participation on firm performance. 4. Investment policy and promotion: what is in a government’s toolbox? Summarizes the various policy instruments governments have at their disposal to help attract MNCs to their country and facilitate GVC participation of domestic firms. 5. Integrating countries into GVCs. Draws on a range of case studies to illustrate how governments can develop coherent strategies and policy packages to integrate their countries into GVCs. 6. FDI and GVCs in the wake of COVID-19. Reflects the impact of COVID-19 on FDI and GVCs, the response from multinationals and suppliers, and the implications for GVC reconfiguration. In addition, there are seven case studies that offer more nuanced analysis on the GVC participation in selected countries and sectors: • Five qualitative case studies: Five countries have been selected that managed to use FDI to stimulate GVC participation using a range of approaches. By design, these five countries also cover five different GVC archetypes. These countries are: (1) Kenya (horticulture); (2) Dominican Republic (textiles); (3) Mauritius (tourism); (4) Malaysia (electronics); (5) China (software). • Two quantitative case studies: Rwanda, West-Bengal (India). These use a combination of firm- and transaction level datasets to study firm-level dynamics that explain the role of multinational and domestic firms across GVCs.