The Effectiveness of Promotion Agencies at Attracting Foreign Direct Investment

Abstract

The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of the World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.

Attracting Foreign Direct Investment: Applying Dunning's Location Advantages Framework to FDI Advertising

“…In this sense, advertising acts to influence managers' perceptions of locations and ultimately their decision-making processes. Several studies support this perspective (e.g., Morisset 2003;Wells and Wint 2000).…”

“…The term "FDI promotion" includes all types of marketing activities designed to attract foreign investment through advertising, public relations, sales promotion, personal selling, direct marketing, investment seminars, trade missions, trade shows and exhibits, and the matching of prospective investors with local partners. It can be categorized into four general types of activities: image building, including advertising; investment generating, such as direct mail and industry-specific seminars; investment servicing, such as investment counseling services and permit expediting; and policy advocacy, involving lobbying for key policy and legal reforms (Morisset 2003;Wells and Wint 2000). In this context, FDI advertising represents an image-building activity.…”

From Sub-state Nationalism to Subnational Competition States: The Development and Institutionalization of Commercial Paradiplomacy in Scotland and Quebec

“…Evaluating the efficiency of such an apparatus in promoting and diversifying exports and inward investments is a complex task (Hibbert, 1998;Wells and Wint, 2000;Morisset and Andrews-Johnson, 2004;Wilkinson et al, 2005), but post-crisis numbers suggests it might have had positive impacts. From 85% in 2002, the proportion of Quebec's international exports in goods going to the USA dropped to 68% and the rest-of-the-world's share rose to more than 30% (Quebec, 2012: 25).…”

A quantitative approach to guiding the promotional efforts of IPAs in emerging markets

“…Such campaigns are considered effective when the reality in a country is better than the perceptions held by investors (Loewendahl, 2001). Similarly, Morisset and Andrews-Johnson (2004) explain that image building activities in general may only be appropriate when investors' perceptions are worse than the reality in a country. As both image building and investment generation are effective in different circumstances, MIGA (2010) notes that the key to IPA success involves getting the balance right between the two activities.…”