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This study aims to address a heretofore neglected area in research, nation branding, for the purpose of attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). It compares and contrasts the well-established literature on decision-making and location choice in FDI with studies in the nascent field of nation branding, with a view to developing directions for future research that result from the identification of research gaps at the intersection point between the two areas.

The study is based on a systematic and integrative review of several streams within the relevant literatures, from the theory of decision-making in FDI to the similarities and differences between advertising, promotion, branding and marketing for investment on the part of nations and sub- or supra-national places.

Each of the two areas is characterized by lack of consensus as to the principal factors that affect investor and nation decisions and actions, resulting in several knowledge gaps that need to be addressed by new research along the lines suggested in the study.

A large number of avenues for potential future research are identified, from assessing the importance of target country image in location choice to the adverse effects arising from the emphasis on “promotion” rather than “marketing” on the part of places engaged in nation branding efforts.

The study examines several problems that affect the practice of nation branding for FDI and points to alternative approaches that may enhance place marketers’ effectiveness in their efforts to attract foreign capital.

Notwithstanding the global growth of FDI in volume and importance, and the omnipresence of nation branding campaigns to promote exports or attract tourism and investment, there has been virtually no research to date on the core issue, nation branding for FDI. The study uses a strategic perspective that highlights key nation branding issues related to FDI, and FDI issues related to nation branding, and suggests a comprehensive agenda for research in the future.

This study aims to investigate how investment promotion agencies (IPAs) attract funds effectively from emerging to established countries.

A qualitative action research (AR) study with data collected from focus groups and semi-structured interviews, observation and journaling. Comparative case studies are also presented to provide an external perspective to the researchers’ internal action researcher positions.

The research identifies four main factors that impact IPAs’ effectiveness in seeking a strategic asset in the UK from a developing country, China. The factors are policy advocacy, targeting industry, regional strategy and cultural adaption, which provide positive and significant influences on IPAs’ effectiveness.

Little research has been published about the roles of IPAs in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) from a developing to a developed country. The study uses an AR approach and case studies, which have not previously been used to investigate IPAs’ performance. The study extends the sparse extant research and provides insights into what influences the performance of IPAs, thus contributing to knowledge and practice.

The findings provide insights into the ways in which IPAs influence FDI flows. The research contributes to discipline knowledge and practice by identifying factors influencing funding in a non-traditional manner, that is from a developing to a developed country.

Little research has been published about the roles of IPAs in attracting FDI from a developing to a developed country. The study uses an AR approach and case study, which have not previously been used to investigate IPAs’ performance. The study extends the sparse extant research and provides insights into what influences the performance of IPAs, thus contributing to knowledge and practice.

Investment promotion is gaining in popularity, yet its relationship with regional development remains unclear and under-investigated. The purpose of this paper is to combine place marketing and regional development concepts to explore investment promotion in the Czech, Polish and Slovak regions. It identifies elements of best practice and investigates to what extent these are used in foreign direct investment promotion conducted by regional authorities. Organisation- and implementation-related elements are studied. The discussion aims to answer the question of how systematic Central–Eastern European regional investment promotion is, and what are the factors determining regions’ involvement in, and the extent of, promotion activities.

Discussion is based on an original survey of Central–Eastern European (CEE) regional authorities' investment promotion. The paper develops a measurement of regional authorities’ engagement in investment promotion – an investment promotion index (IPI) and using non-parametric, two-tailed Spearmans correlation test investigates the relationship between IPI and socio-economic conditions in the regions. Kruskal-Wallis, a non-parametric test of difference is used to investigate statistical significance of differences in mean values between the three countries.

The analysis provides early insights into the relationship between regional development and investment attraction – the main theoretical contribution of the paper. Diverse levels of engagement in promotion are not influenced by the staple competitiveness factors of gross domestic product growth rates or foreign direct investment stock. Instead, it is conditioned by labour market situation in the countries studied.

Investment promotion relationship to regional development remains under-explored. The main focus of the analysis offered is the varying levels of CEE regional authorities’ involvement in investment promotion and its relationship to the socio-economic conditions prevailing in the regions. Exploring this relationship, the paper provides original contribution in the following two aspects: it establishes a systematic way of measuring regional authorities’ engagement with investment promotion; and it links the level of investment promotion to wider development of the regions.

Given the inconclusive evidence in the literature on the impact of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows, as well as dearth of literature on this subject matter as regards West Africa and the European Union (EU), the purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which BITs and preferential trade and investment agreements (PTIAs) triggered foreign investment flows particularly between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) countries and the EU.

Trend analysis was used to trace the link between FDI and BITs, while panel regression models were used to investigate the impact of BITs on FDI during 1980‐2010.

Econometric results indicate that, as in most previous studies, BITs have strong positive impact on FDI in West Africa, with this impact significant at a higher level (1 per cent) for FDI flow than stock (5 per cent). The impact of BITs on FDI is significant even with the state of internal factors (such as capital account liberalisation, trade openness, high inflation rate and poor governance) in West African countries. The findings suggest that in the absence of BITs, West African countries would have suffered adversely from poor FDI inflows given their poor macroeconomic stability and governance. On the contrary, the PTIAs did not have significant impact on both FDI flows and stock. The results also show that FDI inflow to West Africa is both market and resources seeking.

Sensitivity analysis may not have been sufficient. For instance, not tested was the impact of the signalling effect of BIT, as well as other vertical FDI such as those from the USA.

The implication of the findings is that West Africa countries need to design policies and programmes that will enable them to maximise the technological spill‐over from FDI in order not to be perpetual suppliers of primary products and purchasers of manufactured goods. Further, they have to maintain macroeconomic stability and good governance. They need to understand the type of provisions in the BITs that constituent states signed and compare with the provisions of the PTIAs, with a view to discerning what is responsible for the superior response of FDI to BITs.

Given the absence of literature on the impact of BITs on FDI flows between West Africa and EU, it becomes imperative to investigate this issue with a view to motivating the investment component of the EPA, as investment is one of the Singapore issues that were removed from WTO's Doha Round.

This paper aims to explore the laws that govern Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Nigeria. The history of company law and the rise of multinational corporations clearly illustrate the attempts by the Nigerian Government to encourage the inflow of FDI. The different stages of Nigeria’s legal development will be examined in this paper and subsequently an assessment of the laws regulating FDI in the different investment sectors will be in focus.

This paper uses a doctrinal approach by undertaking a sectorial analysis of different sectors or segments of the Nigerian economy highlighting their various regulatory frameworks. The agricultural, steel, banking, employment and oil sectors is focussed in this paper.

This paper demonstrates that for FDI to have positive impacts on the different sectors of the Nigerian economy, the various laws regulating the different sectors should be amended to reflect current realities.

This paper provides a fresh illumination or analysis to the legal barriers inhibiting FDI in Nigeria. It does this by highlighting the various laws affecting FDI in different sectors of the Nigerian economy.

Purpose – Emerging countries are surging as important contributors of outward foreign direct investment (FDI) in both developing and developed markets around the world. This paper seeks to focus on Chinese investment in Europe with a particular consideration given to the manufacturing sector. The purpose of this paper is to analyse this new phenomenon in the context of the Eclectic Paradigm. Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual paper focusing on secondary research. The analysis incorporates aspects related to drivers and motivators, elements of difference, and includes considerations of the institutional role in influencing the competitiveness of firms and the strategies of countries. Findings – From this analysis emerges a contribution to theory development. A holistic model which incorporates government's role in influencing FDI is developed to advance understanding of Chinese OFDI in Europe. Practical implications – The model incorporating governmental influences on FDI presented in the paper can assist policy makers, managers and researchers in understanding the phenomenon. The analysis in the paper of the strengths and weaknesses of the new entrants and the threats and opportunities for incumbents provides insights for managers of the new entrants and incumbents alike. Originality/value – Data and scholarly research on the topic of FDI from emerging countries and on the emergence of China as a potential investor in Europe are limited. Since emerging markets are playing a growing role as sources of FDI, the study has sought to contribute particularly to the understanding of Chinese outward FDI in Europe.

This study aims to investigate the effect of country image on investment intention and the role of investment image as a mediating factor. Both cognitive and affective country image dimensions were addressed to assess the functional and emotional aspects of the country image and their effects on investment intention. The current study targeted Egypt, as one of the developing countries, from the point of view of Nordic investors.

Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed model using data collected from 124 top managers of different companies in the clean energy sector in Nordic countries.

The results showed that cognitive and affective country images are positively related to the investment image, and that investment image is positively correlated with the investment intention. The investment image has a full mediating role in the relationship between cognitive and affective country images and investment intention.

The past few decades have witnessed a growing interest in country image research; however, limited studies have investigated the impact of country image on foreign investment intention. This study adds to the understanding for the potential contribution of the investment image of developing countries in the decision-making process for the foreign direct investment.

The World Bank established the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) in 1985 as the first truly global agency which insures foreign investments against political risks. MIGA is now in its fifth full year of operations and has been more successful than originally forecast. This paper will discuss the formation of MIGA and includes an analysis of its operations to date. When appropriate, comparisons will be made between MIGA operations and those of the U.S. investment insurance agency, OPIC, the Overseas Private Investment Company, as well as private market insurers. Selected cases of MIGA guarantees are discussed in the paper.

The paper investigates the relationship between China’s net direct foreign investment position and economic development and the investment development path (IDP) theory introduced by Dunning (1981). Using annual data for the period 1979 to 2005 and a fourth order single variable polynomial function we demonstrate that form of the IDP for China and conclude that China entered stage 3 of the path postulated by the IDP theory. By analyzing key factors which have impacted FDI inflows and outflows we find that certain idiosyncratic characteristics of Chinese companies and institutional factors may limit the significant increase in the multinationalization of Chinese firms which would be required for the country to move along the IDP.

In an ongoing process of globalization and technology improvements and due to an increase in worldwide actors in the economic sector, commercial diplomacy is an important tool for countries to support their business community during the internationalization process and afterwards. Nevertheless, commercial diplomacy literature is still in its infancy. Therefore, this chapter reviews existing research on the topic and develops a framework, which integrates the topics examined so far and provides the reader with a more complete picture of the topic at hand.

By means of a literature review, this chapter shows that the body of literature involving research of both disciplines, International Relations and International Management, is still rather limited. As a consequence, we determine a future research agenda and call for more empirical studies, especially in the field of (political) economy.