| Sumario: | The neoliberal discourse around development proposed liberalization and market based strategies to increase economic growth and productivity. The retreat of the state gave the market and the private sector a predominant role in trade, investment and industrial and technological upgrade. In this context, the increasing role of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) in the globalized economy strengthened the focus on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as an important tool for development, and intensified the competition to attract investments between countries.
This paper suggests that rather, than being a magic formula for achieving development or having a general effect –either positive or negative-, FDI’s impact, seen as positive spillovers and effective industrial and technological upgrading, depends on the sector in which investment is being made, level of intervention and direction that the host government is applying, and the absorption capacity of the host economy.
|
|---|
