Innovation, Investment and the Diffusion of Technology in Europe: German Direct Investment and Economic Growth in Postwar Europe

This volume brings together leading European scholars and policy-makers to address the determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) and its effects on globalisation, growth and European integration since 1945. The main focus of the study is foreign direct investment by German multinational companies. A range of methods, including econometric studies, survey-based analysis, and detailed discussions of published statistics are used to assess the implications for the German economy and the results in host countries of foreign investment. Consideration is also given to FDI by Swedish multinational corporations, as well as to the role national and supranational institutions can play in stimulating FDI. Although FDI often raises fears for employment and growth, it is an effective way of transferring techniques, processes and products into new markets. Firm-specific assets transferred in this way can raise productivity in the host country without sacrificing jobs in the home country.