Total Inflows Research Articles

A Critical Analysis of Foreign Direct Investment Inflows in India

Historically, India has followed an extremely cautious approach but after economic reforms in 1991, India has liberalized its foreign policy and took series of measures to attract FDI. As per UN report, India is an investment hub after China and USA for major global companies. The present study is based on secondary data and period of the study is from 1991 to 2012. Total FDI inflows have been raised from US $ 133 Millions in 1991-92 to US $ 27841 Millions in the year 2008-09 and the share of direct foreign investment through approvals in equity etc. stood at 65.79% and that of portfolio investment was 34.21%. Projections show that total FDI inflows will be US $ 46098 Millions in 2015-16. Mauritius and Singapore tops in FDI inflows and the FDI inflows in service sector were in highest position. They have positive impact on the related economic indicators on Indian Economy. GOI should attract more FDI through favourable policies and avoid uncertainties.

Positive and Negative Impact of FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) on a Country’s Economic Development

Over the past three decades, the world has witnessed massive growth in Financial markets both in terms of their scale and scope. The global value of financial assets including equities, government and private debt, and bank deposits increased from mere US$ 12 trillion during 1980 to US$ 64 trillion in 1995, and further, it has grown to US$ 140 trillion by 2005. The global financial assets have grown more than ten-fold within a quarter-century. The growth of financial assets has far outstripped the global GDP growth which has increased from US$ 10.1 trillion to US$ 44.5 over this period. The increase in cross-border financial activity has been increased even more unprecedentedly for the last few decades. Worldwide cross-border capital flows –which include foreign purchases of equity and debt securities, cross-border lending, and foreign direct investment (FDI)-have grown at an average annual rate of 10.7% since 1990 and reached a level exceeding US$ 6 trillion in 2005 (Farrell cited in anon 2011). As Escaleras (2011) argued that in order to appreciate the dynamism of FDI it is important to recognize that total net foreign direct investment inflows rose from about $10 billion in 1975 to an astonishing $532 billion in 2004. Natural disasters around the globe also increased dramatically during the past half-century. Exhibit-3 depicts the growth in major, destructive natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, volcanoes, landslides, and windstorms for the period 1935-2004 (Escaleras 2011). In this paper, we will explore the mechanism of Foreign Direct Investment, how it is contributing towards the development of a country’s economy, and moreover improving the standard of living of the particular countries. We will also examine why FDI is important for the developing world for eliminating poverty. Also, we will critically analyze the negative side of FDI and its negative influences on a country’s economy and cultural aspects. Finally, we will examine and correlate the increase in natural disasters and the FDI flow of the respective countries.

A Causal Linkage between FDI Inflows with Select Macroeconomic Variables in India – An Econometric Analysis

The paper endeavour to explore the short run and long run causal relationship between select macroeconomic variables (GDP, Exchange Rate & Inflation Rate) and FDI inflows in Indian context by applying Cointegration test followed by Vector autoregression (restricted/unrestricted) model and Granger- causality test. Further, by employing simple regression model, it tries to calculate the exponential growth rate of FDI inflows in India. Eventually, Chow test has been employed to detect the presence of significant structural break in the data series of FDI inflows. However, the results show that there prevails long run equilibrium among the concerned variables. The Granger-causality test results conclude that exchange rate and GDP statistically significantly influence FDI, whereas, inflation rate is insignificant variable to predict FDI inflows. Further, the growth analysis result claims that the total FDI inflows grow exponentially at a rate of 23% per annum. However, as stated by the results of Chow test, 1991-92 (the year of initiation of New Economic Policy in India) is a statistically significant structural break year in the context of FDI inflows in India. Keywords: FDI, New economic policy, Unit root test, Cointegration test, Vector error correction model, Granger-causality test, Structural break, Chow test. I. Introduction Foreign direct investment (FDI) can be termed as package of resources that complements the financial flows and makes a distinctive contribution to the development process. Foreign direct investment projects typically involve a transfer of technology and managerial skills from the source country to the recipient country and also provide greater access to world market for the recipient country's exports. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is fund flow between the countries in the form of inflow or outflow by which one can able to gain some benefit from their investment whereas another can exploit the opportunity to enhance the productivity and find out better position through investment with the purpose of long term then it is contributes positively towards economy. Depending on the industry sector and type of business, a foreign direct investment may be an attractive and viable option. The studies try to find out the implications which affect the economic scenario and also measure the level of predominance by the factors for economic contribution to India. 1.1 Evaluation of India's FDI Policy Measures The liberal policy measures towards FDI designed in the wake of structural adjustment and macroeconomic reforms in India since mid 1991 have helped attract foreign investors significantly. The amount of approved investment has grown enormously. Though the actual inflow of FDI has not picked up so fast, it has improved and significantly strengthened the capital account of the balance of payments of the country. India is still on a lower ladder among some major FDI receiving countries of Asia. Nevertheless, only six or seven countries claim well over one half of the total FDI flows. With the opening up of new areas for foreign investors, a huge amount of approval and actual inflow is also found in non-traditional areas, such as fuel and power, services and some consumer goods. Though the automatic approval route was introduced for speedier clearance of FDI proposals, its reach and role have been marginal. The policy lacked thrust on attracting investment in sectors that offered comparative cost advantage. Well-developed and strategically located platforms in the form of Export Processing Zones (EPZs) or technology parks have not been provided for mobilizing investment into these sectors. The thrust was not on export orientation due to conservative sector-specific policies. Rigid labour laws had been other serious impediments to FDI inflows. Besides, there was lack of transparency and clarity about micro-level procedure at the state level. To sum up, it can be said that the Indian Government has created a healthy atmosphere for FDI inflow by introducing Structural adjustment and Stabilization policy.

A multi-tracer approach to quantifying groundwater inflows to an upland river; assessing the influence of variable groundwater chemistry

Understanding the behaviour and variability of environmental tracers is important for their use in estimating groundwater discharge to rivers. This study utilizes a multi-tracer approach to quantify groundwater discharge into a 27 km upland reach of the Gellibrand River in southwest Victoria, Australia. Ten sampling campaigns were conducted between March 2011 and June 2012, and the distribution of 222Rn activities, Cl and 3H concentrations imply the river receives substantial groundwater inflows. Mass balances based on 222Rn, Cl and 3H yield estimates of groundwater inflows that agree to within ± 12%, with cumulative inflows in individual campaigns ranging from 24 346 to 88 467 m3/day along the studied river section. Groundwater discharge accounts for between 10 and 50% of river flow dependent on the time of year, with a high proportion (>40 %) of groundwater sustaining summer flows. Groundwater inflow is largely governed by regional groundwater flowpaths; between 50 and 90% of total groundwater inflows occur along a narrow 5–10 km section where the river intersects the Eastern View Formation, a major regional aquifer. Groundwater 222Rn activities over the 16 month period were spatially heterogeneous across the catchment, ranging between 2000 Bq/m3 and 16 175 Bq/m3. Although groundwater 222Rn activities display temporal variation, spatial variation in groundwater 222Rn is a key control on 222Rn mass balances in river catchments where groundwater and river 222Rn activities are within an order of magnitude of each other. Calculated groundwater discharges vary from 8.4 to 15 m3/m/day when groundwater 222Rn activities are varied by ± 1 σ. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

IMPACT OF LAND USE CHANGES THE CATCHMENT ON THE QUALITY AND QUANT1TY OF WATER IN THE RAJANGANA RESERVOIR

The condition of the watershed plays an important role in the quality and quantity of thewater of reservoirs. Among the factors, which affect the health of a watershed, areclimate, geology and land use management. Rajangana watershed drains water to theRajangana reservoir, which irrigates about 5520 ha in the dry zone.In the present study, total monthly inflows to the reservoir were calculated through awater balance study and water inflows from the catchments were obtained through asensitivity analysis using past records. Land use changes were studied by using existingland use maps (1: 50,000) using GIS software. Some water quality parameters in thereservoir waters were analysed. These parameters were compared with the ones takenduring the past 10 years from past records of the MASL in order to identify any trendswith the changes of rainfall, temperature, land use etc.The results showed that the annual total water inflow and also the inflow during the dryseason decreased with time. These trends correlated with the increase in built up areas,reduction of forest cover. Further, there was a marked increase of the pH and alkalinity inthe waters with time

FINANCING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: SOLUTIONS OF WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in Johannesburg, SouthAfrica 2002 has given significant priority to finance and trade issues since funding hasbeen identified as key constraints for the implementation of Agenda 21. The Summitadopted some ambitious programs specifically for poverty eradication such as halving theproportion of the world's people whose income is less than $1 a day, proportion of peoplewho suffer from hunger, proportion of people who are without access to safe drinkingwater and sanitation by 2015. Obvious.y, the implementation of all its decisions dependson the success of addressing development finance issues that covers a vast range, fromofficial development assistance to tommercialloans by multilateral financial institutionsand private banks, foreign direct investment, domestic credits, investment and governmenttransfers. The objective of this paper is to investigate whether the WSSD presents asolution to the financing for sustainable development taking Sri Lanka as a case study.The study observed that between 1992-2000 Official Development Assistant (ODA) hasfallen steadily from 0.33 % of donor country GNP to 0.22 % although at the Earth Summitdeveloped countries agreed to provide 0,7% of GNP as ODA This decline has affected theleast developed countries (LDCs), who arc highly dependant on ODA, which constitutes onthe average almost 90'% of their total long term capital inflows. However during thisperiod, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has significantly increased. FDI to developingcountries has increased from US$ 36 billion in 1991 to US$ 185 billion in 1999, butdeclined to US$ 175 billion in 2000. This is however is only a small portion of the globalFDI flows, which amounted to US$ 1.1 trillion in 2000. In 2000, 80% of FDI went to onlyten developing countries and LDCs attracted only 2.5 % of all FDI flows to developingcountries. In Sri Lanka, foreign direct investments have dropped from US$ 129 Mn ill1977 to US$ 82 Mn 2001. Total outstanding foreign debt has rose from Rs. 235,358 Mn in1992 to Rs. 634,622 Mn in 2001. This indicates serious debt crises in developing countries,which is not a favorable condition for attracting further FDI to developing countries.At the same time measures taken by the international community to treat the excessive debtburdens of 41 heavily indebted poor countries (HIPe) have not delivered the expectedresults. Thought the IMF and the World Bank have approved debt reduction programs for22 countries in December 2000, only' Uganda was able to clear the prerequisite thecreditors. This evidently suggests that the proposed financing measures at the WSSD willalso face implementation problems. Unless all debtors and creditors work positivelywithout demanding unreasonable prerequisite for debt relief measures, the objectives of theWSSD cannot be achieved.

A regional analysis of flows into and out of the UK national minimum wage

This article utilizes the panel element of the UK Labour Force Survey (LFS) to identify for individual regions total inflows and outflows and hazards for those individuals paid at or below the National Minimum Wage (NMW). In particular, it examines the extent and direction of the correlation between low-pay inflows and outflows and the economic cycle. Further, it examines the impact of regional variations in the bite of the NMW on regional flows into and out of the NMW.

Capital Inflow Shocks and House Prices: Aggregate and Regional Evidence from Korea

Over the course of the recent global financial crisis, emerging economies experienced massive swings in capital inflows. In this paper, we estimate a VAR model to assess the impact of capital inflow shocks, which are identified using a set of sign restrictions, on house prices in Korea. We base the analysis on three alternative measures of capital inflows: net total inflows, net portfolio inflows and gross total inflows. The results suggest that capital inflow shocks have a significantly positive and persistent effect on real house prices. Although shocks to capital inflows are found to be substantially more important for Korean asset markets than for other OECD countries, their overall explanatory power is modest. Using regional house price data we also show that capital inflow shocks have an asymmetric effect on property markets across the seven largest Korean cities and across different parts of Seoul.

Capital Inflow Shocks and House Prices: Aggregate and Regional Evidence from Korea

Over the course of the recent global financial crisis, emerging economies experienced massive swings in capital inflows. In this paper, we estimate a VAR model to assess the impact of capital inflow shocks, which are identified using a set of sign restrictions, on house prices in Korea. We base the analysis on three alternative measures of capital inflows: net total inflows, net portfolio inflows and gross total inflows. The results suggest that capital inflow shocks have a significantly positive and persistent effect on real house prices. Although shocks to capital inflows are found to be substantially more important for Korean asset markets than for other OECD countries, their overall explanatory power is modest. Using regional house price data we also show that capital inflow shocks have an asymmetric effect on property markets across the seven largest Korean cities and across different parts of Seoul.

Capital Flows to Emerging Market Economies: A Brave New World?

We examine the determinants of net private capital inflows to emerging market economies. These inflows are computed from quarterly balance-of-payments data from 2002:Q1 to 2012:Q2. Our main findings are: First, growth and interest rate differentials between EMEs and advanced economies and global risk appetite are statistically and economically important determinants of net private capital inflows. Second, there have been significant changes in the behavior of net inflows from the period before the recent global financial crisis to the post-crisis period, especially for portfolio inflows, partly explained by the greater sensitivity of such flows to interest rate differentials and risk aversion. Third, capital control measures introduced in recent years do appear to have discouraged both total and portfolio inflows. Fourth, in the pre-crisis period, there is some evidence that greater foreign exchange intervention to curb currency appreciation pressures brought more capital inflows down the line, but we cannot identify such an effect in the post-crisis period. Finally, we do not find statistically significant positive effects of unconventional U.S. monetary expansion on total net EME inflows, although there does seem to be a change in composition toward portfolio flows. Even for portfolio flows, U.S. unconventional policy is only one among several important factors.

Delimitation of Functional Regions Using a p-Regions Problem Approach

Various spatial data analyses have been used for the identification of functional regions. Functional regions are identified by grouping many areal units into fewer clusters to classify the areal units in terms of similar properties, as well as to constrain the spatial contiguity of the areal units in each cluster. This article proposes a spatial optimization model, called the p-functional regions problem, to solve a regionalization problem by considering geographic flows. The magnitude of geographic flows, such as journey-to-work, is widely considered a good indicator of functional relationships between areas so that regionalization models incorporating various criteria, such as the maximum intraregion flows or the total inflows from other units, may be used to identify the p regions. We also propose an analytical target reduction approach to enhance the model tractability in generating optimal solutions to large problems and to demonstrate the effectiveness of the optimization model using journey-to-work data from Seoul (South Korea) and South Carolina (the United States).

Treasurer's Report for Financial Year (FY) 2011

The society’s total assets as of May 31, 2012, are as follows: Cash accounts (community checking + money market business): $776,190.96 Total CDs: $183,202.71 This report covers the period from June 1, 2011, to May 31, 2012. Because of the ongoing success of Molecular Biology and Evolution (MBE), whose revenue continues to increase, the society remains in outstanding financial health. Society membership decreased during FY 2011: Membership-only subscriptions decreased from 541 in 2010 to 456 in 2011, whereas society membership + journal subscriptions decreased from 334 in 2010 to 239 in 2011. The society used its income to publish its two journals, MBE and Genome Biology and Evolution (GBE), to support a satellite meeting on Phylomedicine in Arizona, USA, and to support its annual meeting in 2012, held in Dublin, Ireland. This included providing graduate and postdoctoral travel awards, funding the Walter Fitch Prize Symposium (a cash prize for the winner and travel funds for eight contestants), running the Undergraduate Diversity Mentoring Program, supporting the travel/accommodation of Council members, and providing travel incentives for associate editors of MBE and GBE. Expense Category June 1, 2011– May 31, 2012 Interest income 1,211.38 OUP journal revenue (MBE) 549,476.00 OUP journal revenue (GBE) 63,177.00 Society fees collected by OUP 11,460.00 Annual meeting reimbursement 157,893.14 Total inflows $782,387.52 2012 and 2013 meetings 187,000.00 Bank charges 225.37 Accounting 1,700.00 Corporation fee 40.00 Fitch prize 1,500.00 SMBE council and editors-in-chief travel 31,482.40 MBE/GBE associate editors travel incentive 38,559.14 Student awards (Fitch, undergrad, grad, and postdoc) 87,872.09 SMBE website maintenance 3,343.80 SMBE treasurer expenses 0.00 MBE editorial office expenses 85,161.00 MBE editor expenses 70,000.00 GBE editor expenses 0.00 GBE “Highlight” honoraria 9,767.50 Postage 523.74 Total outflows $517,175.04 Overall total $266,042.48 View it in a separate window

Treasurer’s Report for Financial Year (FY) 2011

The society’s total assets as of May 31, 2012, are as follows: Cash accounts (community checking + money market business): $776,190.96 Total CDs: $183,202.71 This report covers the period from June 1, 2011, to May 31, 2012. Because of the ongoing success of Molecular Biology and Evolution (MBE), whose revenue continues to increase, the society remains in outstanding financial health. Society membership decreased during FY 2011: Membership-only subscriptions decreased from 541 in 2010 to 456 in 2011, whereas society membership + journal subscriptions decreased from 334 in 2010 to 239 in 2011. The society used its income to publish its two journals, MBE and Genome Biology and Evolution (GBE), to support a satellite meeting on Phylomedicine in Arizona, USA, and to support its annual meeting in 2012, held in Dublin, Ireland. This included providing graduate and postdoctoral travel awards, funding the Walter Fitch Prize Symposium (a cash prize for the winner and travel funds for eight contestants), running the Undergraduate Diversity Mentoring Program, supporting the travel/accommodation of Council members, and providing travel incentives for associate editors of MBE and GBE. Expense Category June 1, 2011– May 31, 2012 Interest income 1,211.38 OUP journal revenue (MBE) 549,476.00 OUP journal revenue (GBE) 63,177.00 Society fees collected by OUP 11,460.00 Annual meeting reimbursement 157,893.14 Total inflows $782,387.52 2012 and 2013 meetings 187,000.00 Bank charges 225.37 Accounting 1,700.00 Corporation fee 40.00 Fitch prize 1,500.00 SMBE council and editors-in-chief travel 31,482.40 MBE/GBE associate editors travel incentive 38,559.14 Student awards (Fitch, undergrad, grad, and postdoc) 87,872.09 SMBE website maintenance 3,343.80 SMBE treasurer expenses 0.00 MBE editorial office expenses 85,161.00 MBE editor expenses 70,000.00 GBE editor expenses 0.00 GBE “Highlight” honoraria 9,767.50 Postage 523.74 Total outflows $517,175.04 Overall total $266,042.48 View it in a separate window

Capital Account Policies and the Real Exchange Rate

Capital Account Policies and the Real Exchange Rate

Conceptual and numerical modeling approach of the Guarani Aquifer System

Abstract. In large aquifers, relevant for their considerable size, regional groundwater modeling remains challenging given geologic complexity and data scarcity in space and time. Yet, it may be conjectured that regional scale groundwater flow models can help in understanding the flow system functioning and the relative magnitude of water budget components, which are important for aquifer management. The Guaraní Aquifer System is the largest transboundary aquifer in South America. It contains an enormous volume of water; however, it is not well known, being difficult to assess the impact of exploitation currently used to supply over 25 million inhabitants. This is a sensitive issue because the aquifer is shared by four countries. Moreover, an integrated groundwater model, and therefore a global water balance, were not available. In this work, a transient regional scale model for the entire aquifer based upon five simplified, equally plausible conceptual models represented by different hydraulic conductivity parametrizations is used to analyze the flow system and water balance components. Combining an increasing number of hydraulic conductivity zones and an appropriate set of boundary conditions, the hypothesis of a continuous sedimentary unit yielded errors within the calibration target in a regional sense. The magnitude of the water budget terms resulted very similar for all parametrizations. Recharge and stream/aquifer fluxes were the dominant components representing, on average, 84.2% of total inflows and 61.4% of total outflows, respectively. However, leakage was small compared to stream discharges of main rivers. For instance, the simulated average leakage for the Uruguay River was 8 m3 s−1 while the observed absolute minimum discharge was 382 m3 s−1. Streams located in heavily pumped regions switched from a gaining condition in early years to a losing condition over time. Water is discharged through the aquifer boundaries, except at the eastern boundary. On average, pumping represented 16.2% of inflows while aquifer storage experienced a small overall increment. The model water balance indicates that the current rate of groundwater withdrawals does not exceed the rate of recharge in a regional sense.

Capital Flows are Fickle: Anytime, Anywhere

Has the unprecedented financial globalization of recent years changed the behavior of capital flows across countries? Using a newly constructed database of gross and net capital flows since 1980 for a sample of nearly 150 countries, this paper finds that private capital flows are typically volatile for all countries, advanced or emerging, across all points in time. This holds true across most types of flows, including bank, portfolio debt, and equity flows. Advanced economies enjoy a greater substitutability between types of inflows, and complementarity between gross inflows and outflows, than do emerging markets, which reduces the volatility of their total net inflows despite higher volatility of the components. Capital flows also exhibit low persistence, across all economies and across most types of flows. Inflows tend to rise temporarily when global financing conditions are relatively easy. These findings suggest that fickle capital flows are an unavoidable fact of life to which policymakers across all countries need to continue to manage and adapt.

Capital Flows are Fickle: Anytime, Anywhere

Has the unprecedented financial globalization of recent years changed the behavior of capital flows across countries? Using a newly constructed database of gross and net capital flows since 1980 for a sample of nearly 150 countries, this paper finds that private capital flows are typically volatile for all countries, advanced or emerging, across all points in time. This holds true across most types of flows, including bank, portfolio debt, and equity flows. Advanced economies enjoy a greater substitutability between types of inflows, and complementarity between gross inflows and outflows, than do emerging markets, which reduces the volatility of their total net inflows despite higher volatility of the components. Capital flows also exhibit low persistence, across all economies and across most types of flows. Inflows tend to rise temporarily when global financing conditions are relatively easy. These findings suggest that fickle capital flows are an unavoidable fact of life to which policymakers across all countries need to continue to manage and adapt.

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN ARAB COUNTRIES (1970-2008): AN INQUIRY INTO DETERMINANTS OF GROWTH BENEFITS

This paper investigates the relationship between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and economic growth in a group of 16 Arab countries from 1970 to 2008. The empirical analysis also addresses the role of what are identified in the literature as local for deriving growth benefits from FDI. Using a dynamic panel approach, it is found that the impact of FDI on economic growth in Arab countries is limited or negligible. The findings also suggest that financial development, trade openness, human capital and infrastructure quality are not significantly improving Arab countries' capacity to reap growth benefits from FDI. The paper suggests that the preconditions should not be seen as of equal importance. The sectoral composition of FDI plays a critical role in deriving FDI growth benefits which might make it a necessary precondition for FDI to promote economic growth, while other factors such as financial development, trade openness, human capital and infrastructure quality could be seen as sufficient preconditions for reaping FDI growth dividends. The paper's findings have important policy implications as Arab countries can turn to domestic policy solutions to direct FDI inflows to the dynamic sectors and focus not only on FDI quantity but also on FDI quality. Meanwhile, efforts should be made to reform and improve institutional quality, macroeconomic policies, and domestic financial markets.Keywords: FDI, Economic Growth, Arab CountriesJEL classification: F21, O40, O43(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)1. INTRODUCTIONCapital is the cornerstone of any production process at both the micro and the macro-economy levels. Capital can be obtained through domestic sources as well as through foreign sources, which is mostly in the form of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). FDI inflows have multifaceted features which make them preferable to other sources of capital. These features include filling savings-investment gaps, relaxing foreign exchange constraints, and consisting of a bundle which includes not only capital but also technology, knowledge, and marketing and managerial skills (Grossman and Helpman, 1992; Walz, 1997; Pradham, 2003).FDI has become the most stable and the largest component of capital flows to developing countries. As a result, FDI is considered an important element in the economic development process. Yet the role of FDI in the economic growth/ development process has for long been a topic of intense debate. To date, the empirical evidence of the effect of FDI on economic growth is not conclusive.While one stream of research has indicated a positive impact of FDI on economic growth, another stream reports otherwise. A third stream of research suggests that the effect of FDI on a host country's economy is dependent on the country's absorptive capacity in terms of its human capacity and the level of economic and financial development (Hermes and Lensink, 2004; Makki and Somwaru, 2004).FDI flows around the world have dramatically increased in the past three decades. World FDI flows rose from $54 billion in 1980 to $208 billion in 1990, then to $1,401 billion in 2000 before falling to $1,114 in 2009. Arab countries were not an exception to this trend. Total FDI inflows to Arab countries increased from a mere $502 million in 1970 to $1,288 million in 1990, then jumped to $6,056 million in 2000 before soaring to $47.6 and $79.2 billion in 2005 and 2009, respectively (UNCTAD). These trends reflect the increasing importance of FDI flows both for recipient and exporting countries.This paper aims at answering two main questions. First, did FDI inflows contribute to economic growth in Arab countries over the period 1970-2008? Second, can country-specific features and initial conditions explain cross-country variations in the growth benefits of FDI? Answers to these questions provide insights into how changes in economic and institutional conditions can affect FDI prospects for Arab countries, as well as inform policy responses for acquiring growth benefits from FDI in the future. …

Up‐scaling potential impacts on water flows from agricultural water interventions: opportunities and trade‐offs in the Osman Sagar catchment, Musi sub‐basin, India

AbstractAgricultural water management (AWM) has been shown to improve and secure yields in the tropics and has been suggested as an important way to combat poverty in the region. In this paper, we describe potential impacts on upstream and downstream flows of extensive AWM interventions, using the watershed development programme of the Osman Sagar catchment of Musi sub‐basin, Andhra Pradesh semi‐arid India, as an example. Various AWM interventions are compared with a non‐intervention state and the current state of the study area, using 31 years of data by application of the calibrated and validated ARCSWAT 2005 (Version 2.1.4a) modelling tool. Different AWM interventions contribute to improved livelihoods of upstream smallholder farmers by increasing soil moisture availability and groundwater recharge, which can subsequently be used for irrigation. The result is higher crop production and hence larger incomes. Moreover, lower flow intensities and sediment losses reduced by 30–50%, reducing the risk of flooding and sediment accumulation in the Osman Sagar drinking water reservoir. On the other hand, AWM interventions are predicted to result in reduced total water inflows to the Osman Sagar reservoir from 11% of the total annual rainfall (754 mm) recorded at present, to 8% if AWM interventions were implemented at large scale throughout the catchment. A cost–benefit analysis of AWM interventions showed that the highest net economic returns were achieved at intermediate intervention levels (only in‐situ AWM). Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

How Does BIT Design Impact FDI and International Joint Ventures in Politically Risky Countries?

We investigate the dynamic impact of legal legitimacy on MNE international strategy by studying how the stringency of bilateral investment treaty (BIT) provisions between national governments impacts FDI and entry mode strategy over time. Drawing primarily on institutional and transaction cost theory, we argue that the level of FDI inflows and the number of international joint ventures (IJVs) in a country should not only increase in absolute terms with the ratification of BITs involving that country, but also as a result of the stringency in the design of those BITs. Based on an analysis of datasets of investments made over three decades, we demonstrate that the number of IJVs and the total FDI inflows increase as legal legitimacy (expressed as both BIT presence and BIT stringency) improves, but only in developing countries with high political risks. We contribute to research on the relationship between international strategy and international legal institutions by showing how the stringency of BIT design...