Competing for High-quality FDI: Management Challenges for Investment Promotion Agencies

Abstract

Competition for FDI is intensifying and changing in scope as governments of developed and developing countries alike place a higher emphasis on the quality rather than on the quantity of FDI. Against the backdrop of contemporary international business trends, we argue that shifting from quantity to quality in FDI promotion entails a new policy mix and a new approach to performance evaluation. We examine the challenges that investment promotion agencies targeting quality are confronted with from an intellectual capital management perspective, drawing attention to the implications for their human, structural and relational capital. This study offers a broad framework to better guide FDI policy reform and evaluation.