Data Constraints in the Analysis of Southern Multinationals: Evidence from the EU

The impact of Southern Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) on Europe is of pressing interest in the wake of the rapid internationalization of multinationals from the BRIC(S) countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and other countries of the ‘South’. It is of compelling interest to know the impact that Southern MNEs have on Europe and to examine if (and how) this impact differs from traditional inward investors such as the USA and Japan. However, this chapter shows that such efforts are severely constrained by the lack of reliable and consistent data. The chapter assembles the extant data and suggests that significant outcomes of inward foreign direct investment from the South are already occurring.