Abstract
In our globalizing world, the activities of multinational enterprises (MNEs) have increasingly pervaded many economies. In the 1980s and 1990s, foreign direct investment (FDI),1 the main mechanism for the international expansion for MNEs, showed unequalled annual growth rates between 20 and 40 per cent. This came to an end in the new millennium when a highly unstable growth pattern began to emerge. In 2001, influenced by the economic downturn in the US, the upward trend in FDI turned abruptly into a steep fall of over 40 per cent. Then, after three ailing years, FDI growth rebounded strongly between 2005 and 2007, with yearly increases of between 33 and 47 per cent (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development [UNCTAD] 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008).2 However, while FDI reached a worldwide peak in 2007, in the course of that year unmistakable signs of a slowdown appeared. The UNCTAD World Investment Report 2010 noted that worldwide FDI inflows had fallen progressively by 16 per cent in 2008 and 37 per cent in 2009. The report concluded that the economic and financial crisis significantly affected the operations of MNEs abroad in 2008–2009. However, it also pointed out that the decline of sales and value added of their foreign affiliates was less than the decline of world economic activity (UNCTAD 2010, 16). As a result, in 2010 the share of foreign affiliates’ value added reached an historic high of nearly 11 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2013 Maarten van Klaveren, Kea Tijdens and Denis Gregory
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
van Klaveren, M., Tijdens, K., Gregory, D. (2013). The Wage and Employment Effects of Foreign Direct Investment. In: Multinational Companies and Domestic Firms in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137375926_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137375926_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-47752-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-37592-6
eBook Packages: Palgrave Business & Management CollectionBusiness and Management (R0)