Log in
In the early 2000s the increasing Chinese, Brazilian, Indian and South African multinational enterprise investments into advanced economies were greeted with genuine concern by policy makers in these emerging economies, where the fear was that this was a prelude to disinvestment and relocation to advanced economies. Many of these policy makers and their advisors went to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) for guidance, which in turn harnessed the specialist expertise of University of Reading professors John H Dunning (joined Reading in 1964, now deceased) and Rajneesh Narula (at Reading since 2004).
Narula and Dunning wrote a key report, which transformed UNCTAD's technical assistance programme and reassured emerging market policy makers that this pattern of MNE investment was entirely predictable and not a prelude to disinvestment. The policy response in these countries was duly moderated.
Aston's research on inward investment has had considerable reach and significance, improving economic policy analysis on the effects of foreign direct investment (FDI). The research has:
Bradford research led to the development of the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) model which fed into the formulation of international policy tools: namely the Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investment (PRAI) and the Indicators for Measuring and Maximizing Economic Value Added and Job Creation from Private Investment in Specific Value Chains (IMMEV). PRAI was adopted by the Group of 20 (G20) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in 2010 and is currently in use to determine relevant national policies aiming to attract investment in agriculture, in Africa and South East Asia. IMMEV is used to support the Development Pillar of G20 and its use is currently implemented in six countries (Bangladesh, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Laos, Mongolia and Mozambique).
Countries with substantial non-renewable natural resource wealth face special opportunities and challenges. Research undertaken by Oxford economists has contributed to understanding these challenges and to improving policies for resource management, particularly in developing economies. The key impact is based on a central component of the research — resource revenue management, including long-run decisions about saving, investing, and consuming revenues, and short- and medium-run management of instability. Oxford research has been influential in shaping policy positions of the International Financial Institutions, particularly the IMF, and in influencing the policy debate in-country. It has thereby influenced policies for resource revenue management, particularly in the newly resource-rich countries of Africa.
John Moore's Edinburgh-based research (1993-) on the role of trust and liquidity in the amplification and propagation of business cycles has informed both the understanding of, and the policy response to, the recent financial crisis in central banking circles around the world. His insight into the self-reinforcing effect of a decline in asset prices via the collateral multiplier has been instrumental in making sense of the crisis. Moore's work has also provided intellectual underpinning for the unconventional monetary policy — quantitative easing — that central banks, including the Federal Reserve (over US$1.5 trillion) and the Bank of England (over £375 billion) have undertaken in response to the crisis.
MMU's International Business (IB) impact case reflects the breadth and multi-disciplinary nature of the subject area: it demonstrates MMU impact in established and evolving IB areas, and in developed and emerging economies.
Primary impacts relate to policy development and policy outcomes at government, NGO, international organisation, and business association levels. Research has impacted by:
a) increasing understanding (for policy-makers, development agencies & companies) of drivers and attractors for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI);
b) shaping policy initiatives to support increased FDI volumes and improved outcomes;
c) increasing public awareness and informing policy with relation to requirements for successful, development-oriented economic reform; and,
d) influencing creation of new security governance paradigms to underpin expansion of (and equitable outcomes from) IB activity in emerging economies. Our research shapes international business frameworks, which, in turn, affects the strategy and practice of the business community for improved operation in the global economy.
Chang's research has covered a wide range of public policy, including industrial policy, trade policy, privatisation, and agricultural policy, as well as theories of state intervention. By successfully challenging the then prevailing orthodoxy on economic development, his research has had significant influence on the actions of many national governments, multilateral institutions (e.g., the UN, the World Bank) and NGOs (e.g., Oxfam). Chang's research has also had substantial impact on public debate concerning economic policies, especially but not exclusively those regarding development issues. He has had two best-selling mass-market books (together sold 1.15 million copies as of December 2012) and gained worldwide media exposure for his views.