Skip to main content
Log in

The role of direct foreign investment in developing east asian countries

  • Berichte
  • Published:
Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Conclusion

purpose of this paper has been to provide an overview of the role and extent of foreign investment in East Asian developing countries. We have not been concerned with the costs and benefits of DFL Rather, we have attempted to integrate the scattered and limited information on DFI into recent empirical research on the subject. Many of the issues concerning DFI can be examined only through detailed case studies, and our paper is intended to be complementary to such research.

Several conclusions emerge from our study. First, DFI constitutes a substantial but still relatively minor source of the total resource inflows to the region, and a very small proportion of total domestic investment. Secondly, although there have been changes in the“packaging” of capital and technology inflows, these changes do not appear to be as great as is sometimes suggested. Thirdly, there are significant differences in the nature and extent of DFI among the investing countries. Fourthly, the importance of DFI varies markedly within the manufacturing sector, and these variations can be explained, at a general level, with reference to the theory of DFI. Fifthly, the phenomenon of intra-firm trade in manufacturing does not appear to be particularly important in the case of United States investment, but it is significant in the rapidly expanding Japanese investments abroad.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agmon, Tamir, Charles P. Kindleberger (Eds.),Multinationals from Small Countries. Cambridge, Mass., 1977.

  • Arndt, Heinz W., “Professor Kojima on the Macroeconomics of Foreign Direct Investment”.Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics, Vol. 15, 1974, pp. 26–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Asian Development Bank (ADB),Key Indicators of Developing Member Countries of ADB. Economic Office, Manila, annual, var. issues.

  • Callis, Helmet G.,Foreign Capital in Southeast Asia. New York 1942.

  • Castro, Judy S.,“The Bataan Export Processing Zone”.Asian Employment Programme Working Papers. Bangkok 1982.

  • Caves, Richard E., “Causes of Direct Investment; Foreign Firms’ Shares in Canadian and United Kingdom Manufacturing Industries”.Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 56, 1974, pp. 279–293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Edward K.Y.,Multinational Corporations, Employment and Technology, London 1983.

  • Chia Siow Yue,“Foreign Direct Investment in Manufacturing in Developing Countries: The Case of Singapore”. In: Frederick E.I. Hamilton, Godfrey J.R. Linge (Eds.),Spatial Analysis,Industry and the Industrial Environment, Vol. II: International Industrial Systems. Chichester 1981, pp. 439–464.

  • Chinwanno, Chulacheeb, Somsak Tambunlertchai,“Japanese Investment in Thailand and its Prospects in the 1980s”. In: Sueo Sekiguchi (Ed.),ASEAN — Japan Relations: Investment. Singapore 1983, pp. 181–225.

  • Chung, William K., “Sales by Majority-Owned Foreign Affiliates of U.S. Companies, 1976”.Survey of Current Business, Vol. 58, 1978, pp. 31–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Datta Chaudhuri, Mrinal,“The Role of Free Trade Zones in the Creation of Employment and Industrial Growth in Malaysia”.Asian Employment Working Papers. Bangkok 1982.

  • Dunning, John H.,“International Business in a Changing World Environment”.Banca Nationale del Lavoro Quarterly Review, No. 143, 1982, pp. 351–374.

  • Helleiner, Gerald K.,Intra-Firm Trade and the Developing Countries. London 1981.

  • -,Direct Foreign Investment and Alternative Forms of External Non-Concessional Finance for Developing Countries. Paper presented to the Seventh World Congress of the International Economic Association. Madrid 1983.

  • Hill, Hal, “Survey of Recent Developments”.Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, Vol. 20, 1984, pp. 1–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —,Brian Johns, “The Transfer of Industrial Technology to Western Pacific Developing Countries”. Prometheus, Vol. 1, 1983, pp. 60–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffmann, Lutz, Tan Siew Ee,Industrial Growth, Employment, and Foreign Investment in Peninsular Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur 1980. Published for the Institut für Weltwirtschaft, Kiel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hymer, Stephen H.,The International Operations of National Firms: A Study of Direct Foreign Investment. Cambridge, Mass., 1976.

  • Jo, Sung-Hwan,“Overseas Direct Investment by South Korean Firms: Direction and Pattern”. In: Krishna Kumar, Maxwell G. McLeod (Eds.),Multinationals from Developing Countries. Lexington, Mass., 1981, pp. 53–78.

  • Kojima, Kiyoshi,Japan and a New World Economic Order. Tokyo 1977.

  • Kumar, Krishna, Maxwell G. McLeod (Eds.),Multinationals from Developing Countries. Lexington, Mass., 1981.

  • Lall, Sanjaya, “The Pattern of Intra-Firm Exports by U.S. Multinationals”.Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 40, 1978, pp. 209–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —, “Multinationals and Market Structure in an Open Developing Economy: The Case of Malaysia”.Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, Vol. 115, 1979, pp. 325–348.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —, “The Emergence of Third World Multinationals: Indian Joint Ventures Overseas”.World Development, Vol. 10, 1982, pp. 127–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lall, Sanjaya, Sharif Mohammad, “Multinationals in Indian Big Business: Industrial Characteristics of Foreign Investments in a Heavily Regulated Economy”.Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 13, 1983, pp. 143–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • -, et al.,The New Multinationals: The Spread of Third World Enterprises. Chichester 1983.

  • Lecraw, Donald J., “Performance of Transnational Corporations in Less Developed Countries”.Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 14, 1983, pp. 15–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, Chung H., “International Production of the United States and Japan in Korean Manufacturing Industries: A Comparative Study”.Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, Vol. 119, 1983, pp. 744–753.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —, “On Japanese Macroeconomic Theories of Direct Foreign Investment”.Economic Development and Cultural Change, Vol. 32, 1984, pp. 713–723.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MTI),Overseas Business Activities of Japanese Firms. Tokyo, annual, var. issues.

  • Oman, Charles,New Forms of International Investments in Developing Countries. Paris 1983.

  • Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),Geographic Distribution of Financial Flows to Developing Countries. Paris, annual, var. issues.

  • Ozawa, Terutomo,Multinationalism, Japanese Style: The Political Economy of Outward Dependency. Princeton, N.J., 1979.

  • Pangestu, Mari,Direct Foreign Investment in ASEAN Countries. Australian National University, Canberra 1980, unpubl. MA diss.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parry, Thomas G.,Patterns of International Involvement and Economic Interdependence: Asian NICs and Australia. Paper presented to the conference on“Patterns of Growth and Structural Change in Asia’s NICs and Near-NICs in the Context of Economic Interdependence”, Hawaii 1983.

  • Riedel, James, “The Nature and Determinants of Export Oriented Direct Foreign Investment in a Developing Country: A Case Study of Taiwan”.Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, Vol. 111, 1975, pp. 505–526.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sakurai, Makoto,“Japanese Direct Investment: Studies on its Growth in the 1970s”.Yale University, Economic Growth Center, Discussion Paper No. 397. New Haven 1982.

  • Sekiguchi, Sueo (Ed.),Japanese Direct Foreign Investment. Montclair 1979.

  • -,ASEAN-Japan Relations: Investment. Singapore 1983.

  • -,Lawrence B. Krause,“Direct Foreign Investment in ASEAN by Japan and the United States”. In: Ross Garnaut (Ed.),ASEAN in a Changing Pacific and World Economy. Canberra 1980, pp. 421–454.

  • Thee Kian Wie, “Japanese Direct Investment in Indonesian Manufacturing”.Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, Vol. 20, No. 2, 1984, pp. 90–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ting Wen-Lee, Chi Schive,“Direct Investment and Technology Transfer from Taiwan”. In: Krishna Kumar, Maxwell G. McLeod (Eds.),Multinationals from Developing Countries. Lexington, Mass., 1981.

  • Tsurumi, Yoshi,The Japanese are Coming. Cambridge, Mass., 1976.

  • United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations (UN CTC) [1983a],Salient Features and Trends in Foreign Direct Investments. New York 1983.

  • United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations (UN CTC) [1983b],Transnational Corporations in World Development — Third Survey. New York 1983.

  • United Nations Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD),Organisational Forms of Transfer of Technology to Developing Countries by Small-and Medium-Sized Enterprises: A Case Study of Equity Joint Ventures and Technology Agreements in Latin America. Geneva 1982.

  • Vaitsos, Constantine V.,Intercountry Income Distribution and Transnational Enterprises. Oxford 1974.

  • Warr, Peter G., “The Jakarta Export Processing Zone: Benefits and Costs”.Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, Vol. 19, No. 3, 1983, pp. 28–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren-Boulton, Frederick R.,Vertical Control of Markets. Cambridge, Mass., 1978.

  • Wells, Louis T., Jr.,Third World Multinationals. Cambridge, Mass., 1983.

  • Westphal, Larry E., Yung W. Rhee, Garry Pursell, “Foreign Influences on Korean Industrial Development”.Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 41, 1979, pp. 359–388.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoshihara, Kunio,Soga Shosha: Vanguard of the Japanese Economy. Kuala Lumpur 1983.

  • Young, Alfredo S., “Factors Affecting Flows of Direct Foreign Investment to Southeast Asian Economies”.Journal of Philippine Development, Vol. 5, 1978, pp. 75–96.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

About this article

Cite this article

Hill, H., Johns, B. The role of direct foreign investment in developing east asian countries. Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv 121, 355–381 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02705832

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02705832

Keywords

Navigation