Research Analytics: FDI Confidence Index

Instructions - The goal of our coverage of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is to understand the pattern of FDI that occurs between countries, and why firms undertake FDI and become multinational in their operations as well as why firms undertake FDI rather than simply exporting products or licensing their know-how.

You are working for a company that is planning to invest in a foreign country. Management has requested a report regarding the attractiveness of alternative countries based on the potential return of foreign direct investment (FDI). A colleague mentioned a potentially useful tool called the FDI Confidence Index from the consultancy firm ATKearney, which is updated periodically. How is this index constructed relative to the two previous indices (on globalization and corruption) that you explored? Does it use the same factors and arrive at the same ranking conclusions? Using the FDI Confidence Index (you can download the summary at the website), analyze the countries that are ranked in the top 10 using course concepts. What characteristics do they share in terms of their monetary stability and international debt that contribute to FDI attractiveness?

Expectations - Students must be able to access and critically evaluate information on globalization available from various sources. This series of assignments enables students to evaluate sources of topical information available on the internet and evaluate its relevance for global business by connecting to course concepts from the readings and lectures. Students will individually demonstrate their ability to analyze the variety of research and data on international markets and economic conditions. These assignments help students to build an analytical approach to country risk assessment and the wider global environment. The research tasks must be submitted in Word format (no PDF files) to Moodle.