The Foreign-owned Manufacturing Sector in UK Peripheral Regions, 1978–1993: Restructuring and Comparative Performance

Abstract

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Exploring the Regional Distribution of Inbound Foreign Direct Investment in the UK in Theory and Practice: Evidence from a Five-Region Study

“…Moreover, Stone and Peck (1996) argue that the use of employment data in this type of study can lead to a range of problems, including potential difficulties in isolating data relating to expected jobs created and determined by TNCs undertaking FDI; differentiating between jobs created and jobs safeguarded can also be problematic, as can estimating any jobs lost or displaced as a result of any given foreign investment (Stone and Peck, 1996). Weak correlation between jobs created and investment levels (Jones and Wren, 2004) can be another problem associated with employment data.…”

“…Some commentators (Tewdr-Jones and Phelps, 2000;Dicken et al, 1997) argue that the South East's inward investor appeal may now be declining, as FDI commitments switch from the UK's core to its peripheral regions. Others (Stone and Peck, 1996;Mackay, 2003) however maintain that relatively prosperous core regions such as the South East are likely to retain their competitive advantage over the periphery in the attraction of FDI. Official FDI statistics (ONS, 1999(ONS, -2006 support the latter view.…”

“…Securing strategic asset-seeking investment may become an increasingly important goal of government policy over time, at least for those UK regions with the potential to develop globally competitive clusters including a critical mass of 'competence-creating' as opposed to 'competence-exploiting' MNE subsidiaries. There should however be differing degrees of emphasis on measures facilitating market access, labour productivity, education and training initiatives, R&D and technology development, and the promotion of cluster development and supply chain linkages, as well as on traditional, incentive-based approaches to inward investment strategy, reflecting variations in regional economic circumstances and FDI potential (Stone and Peck, 1996;Phelps, 1997;Loewendahl, 2001a and2001b).…”

“…The basic model underlying the regression was developed from the literature, making use of a framework developed by Stopford and Strange (1991);Munday (1992 and1995); Stone and Peck (1996) Phelps et al Loewendahl (2001a);and Dunning (2002); and following the hierarchical approach discussed above. The model reflects three strategic determinants of inbound FDI (the search for markets, efficiency and strategic assets) together with government influence.…”

Foreign direct investment and the SME sector

“…Alternatively the number of projects has been used instead (Wren and Jones, 2011;Dimitropoulou et al, 2013). These regional FDI figures should be treated with a degree of caution according to scholars such as Stone and Peck (1996) and Munday et al (2009). When considering the influence of foreign owned businesses on the local labour force, measures of capital invested, or worse projects, may not necessarily reflect the true impact, as more capital intensive industries may have a less direct influence on the enterprise culture (Barbosa and Eiriz, 2009).…”