Journal of International Business Policy

This paper seeks to derive rational policies towards multinational enterprises (MNEs) from extant international business theory. It examines the impact of national institutions and policies on both inward and outward direct foreign investment. It adopts a theory-based perspective utilising internalisation, transaction cost and institutional approaches to the operations of MNEs. It contrasts the received policy process by which MNEs react to policy initiatives with a potential “direct” policy model whereby strategic decisions of MNEs embody policy goals. The paper suggests that transparent national policies with robust supranational monitoring are the best solution for world economic welfare.

The globalization of the world economy, the growing boundary-less nature of the workforce, and the reduction in immigration and emigration barriers to the movement of people have helped fuel a “war for talent” (Chambers et al. in McKinsey Q 3(3):44–57, 1998) worldwide. In this paper, we study the immigration policies of three of the most popular destinations of skilled immigrants – the US, Canada, and Australia. According to the 2018 Global Talent Competitiveness Index (Global Talent Competitiveness Index, 2018), these three countries were among the top 15 most attractive destinations in the world, attracting two-thirds of all skilled immigrants worldwide. We analyze the policy frameworks of these countries in terms of attracting skilled immigrants and their evolution over time. We compare and contrast these frameworks and explain how they are similar to and different from each other. We also analyze the background of the immigrants and their overall success in integrating into their host societies. Finally, we provide recommendations on how to make these policies more effective, and how they could help countries in the global battle for talent.

Maritime shipping lines and global terminal operators have benefited from economies of scale to expand geographically and functionally their infrastructure, leading to a corporatized network. Terminal operators are key asset managers seeking value creation by expanding the global maritime container terminal infrastructure network. While corporatization has systematically ensured that terminal capacity was created to accommodate the rise in global trade volumes, the network hit its boundaries when confronted with COVID-19 induced global supply chain disruptions. This paper provides a better understanding of the importance of infrastructure and observed corporatization as a framework for explaining economic processes, notably when transport infrastructures are extensive and capital-intensive. The structure of the global container shipping network is analyzed to unveil the realities of liner service networks operated by shipping lines, and the market structure and consolidation in container shipping and terminal operations. The discussion on the corporatization of the global maritime infrastructure network for container handling is embedded in international business literature. This study also extracts the main implications of the current structure and governance of the global maritime infrastructure network for international business policy, with a particular focus on the current market structure and network resilience.

A project on social enterprises in South Africa yielded two key insights for international business. First, partnering with policymakers can strengthen both the relevance and the rigor of research. Second, both the (relatively few) large, multinational social enterprises that obtain funding and operate across multiple countries (whether global or intra-African), and the myriad single-location, informal micro social enterprises are globally connected. Micro social enterprises are linked to the formal and often multinational sector through their main source of funding: corporate social investment. This suggests that the social implications of cross-border businesses are more complex than previously understood.

The postwar environment is different from those of active war and established peace, with risks of violence and political volatility existing alongside renewed commitments to stability and development. International aid organizations join governing institutions in guiding policies for postwar growth. Though investments here are risky, I argue that governments can clarify key uncertainties and accelerate the process of recovering FDI by strengthening policy in areas of information transparency, governing accountability, and engagement with international aid. These ideas are tested with a survival analysis of inbound FDI recovery using a worldwide sample of postwar periods from 1970 to 2008. I find that while transparency and accountability accelerate FDI recovery as expected, foreign aid tends to be associated with slower rates of recovery. Rather than encourage postwar FDI with a commitment to development, aid may be an indirect signal that the environment is yet unfit for private sector investment. Policymakers and aid organizations should not rely on aid alone to attract foreign investment in postwar environments. Structures that encourage investment for social responsibility, with a long-term market outlook, may be more successful in these contexts.

Host-country policies shape the incentives and opportunities of MNC subsidiaries to innovate. However, prior research largely ignores the agency of foreign MNC subsidiaries receiving government R&D subsidies from their host countries. Subsidiaries may increase R&D investments and innovation outputs as intended by governments or merely accept the additional funds while continuing R&D programs that they would have undertaken anyway. In this exploratory study, we investigate whether R&D subsidies trigger additional input, output, and behavioral innovation effects in foreign MNC subsidiaries. Based on longitudinal data from Germany, we find that foreign MNC subsidiaries increase their R&D investments more than comparable domestic firms in response to an R&D subsidy. Moreover, MNC subsidiaries experience comparatively stronger effects in innovation performance from subsidy-induced R&D. However, subsidies also shift attention away from the subsidiaries’ original R&D activities. We interpret our findings by integrating theory from subsidy additionality literature into models of MNC subsidiary innovation. Our findings have implications for both MNC subsidiaries and policymakers who seek to attract foreign R&D investment in a host country.