RISULTATI RICERCA

Trends in FDIs after the financial crisis: what’s going on? - This article investigates the recent trends in FDIs, focussing on the effects provoked by the financial crisis. The crisis has impacted in a significant manner on the more volatile component of FDIs, i.e. cross-border M&As. On the contrary, forecasts for greenfield FDIs are just in line with the decline expected in world export, after a strong increase registered in 2008. With the possibility that the financial crisis could catalyse a trend toward the so called "reverse globalization", the paper argues that there is evidence of an increasing heterogeneity in firms’ behaviour, with some firms now considering whether or not to scale back offshoring production by returning operations to, or closer to, home. Nevertheless, there is no evidence, or at least not yet, that we are witnessing a major shift in the direction and dynamics of international delocalisation processes.

Keywords: foreign direct investments, multinational firms

Parole chiave: investimenti diretti esteri, imprese multinazionali

Jel Classification: F23

The increasing competition between governments to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) can be attributed to their prominent role in promoting knowledge-sharing, innovation and growth. The fact that Italy has always been a laggard in such initiatives has further blemished the country’s attractiveness to foreign investors. Based on the past experience of other nations and on the conceptual models advanced in the latest international literature, the paper suggests a design framework for general guidelines that may be of use to policymakers in formulating an effective policy to encourage FDI. The framework combines principles based on the country-specific competitive advantages and opportunities generated by international investments. Specifically, the paper identifies several policy measures and discusses their optimal mix with reference to the case of Italy.