Do All Foreign Direct Investment Inflows Benefit the Local Economy?

The present study measures the impact of FDI inflows on the local economies of the US states that receive most of the FDI inflows in the country. It appears that FDI inflows in manufacturing have rather weak effects on local employment and wages in most of the states in the sample. However, these results are primarily due to the industry composition of the FDI. FDI inflows in Printing and Publishing, Transportation Equipment and Instruments have positive effects on local employment and wages, while FDI inflows in Leather and Stone/Clay/Glass have detrimental effects on local labour markets in most of the states in the sample. These findings indicate the importance of industry characteristics in evaluating the effects of FDI inflows on local communities. Also, they emphasise the need for US states to selectively target and attract FDI inflows in specific industries.     

DIVERSIFICATION IN THE REAL ESTATE PORTFOLIO

This study investigates primarily the relationship between portfolio size and the reduction of return variation in real estate portfolios and attempts to provide some notion of what represents an “adequate” level of naive diversification. The study also examines the proportional components of the total risk in real estate investment. The results provide information on the relative percentage of total risk accounted for by systematic or “market” factors.     

“Regional questions”

Publications Reviewed:

Royal Town Planning Institute, 1986: Strategic Planning for Regional Potential. A discussion document.

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, 1986: Regional Policy-A Fresh Approach.

Armstrong, H. and Taylor, J. 1987: Regional Policy: The Way Forward. The Employment Institute.

Northern Region Councils Association, 1986: The State of the Northern Region.

South East Economic Development Strategy (SEEDS), 1987: South-South Divide. An exposition of the SEEDS project.     

An Empirical Study of Volatility in Seven Southeast Asian Stock Markets Using ARV Models

This paper investigates the volatility persistence, volatility variability from day to day and transmission of volatility in seven Southeast Asian stock markets from 1980 to 1991 using the ARV approach. We found strong evidence that shocks to volatility are persistent in Taiwan. Moreover, the Stock Exchange of Thailand Daily Index has the strongest interday volatility fluctuation. Instantaneous causality of volatility among six of the seven markets (except Seoul) was discovered. Besides, there is significant volatility spillover effect from Hong Kong to Taiwan, Malaysia to Singapore and Singapore to Malaysia in the period 1980 to 1991.     

a fire inspector calls

Mike Fisher, an Institute of Economic Affairs' trustee and director of Whale Tankers, explains what happened when the fire inspector called on the home of the great British whale.     

Soviet all-union enterprises as new multinationals of the CIS

This paper examines the restructuring of the former Soviet economy provoked by the break-up of the USSR and the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Particular attention is devoted to the changes taking place in the former All-Union enterprises that have now essentially become new multinationals. The pressures influencing the two parallel developments of internalization and divestment are examined and illustrated using two case studies. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.