Events

05/10/2018

+GIST Seminar: Why MNEs have little effect on development: applying an extended Lewisian framework

Date & Time:
Wednesday, May 16, 2018  18:00-19:30

Speaker:
Dr. Rajneesh Narula
John H. Dunning Chair of International Business Regulation
Henley Business School, University of Reading
United Kingdom

Venue:  National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) 1st Floor Room A
Language:  English
To register for the seminar, e-mail to: gist-ml@grips.ac.jp with your name, affiliation, and your e-mail address

Synopsis:
The early development literature placed great emphasis that development was best achieved by using natural resource sectors for the transition to other sectors. Prior to the import substitution era, MNEs had a habit of internalising the complete value chain and creating enclaves that had few linkages or spillovers locally, and were regarded by policy makers as an obstacle to development. Since liberalisation, extractive MNEs have re-engaged with developing countries through looser governance structures with greater potential for linkages. Despite the potential, few host countries have seen meaningful MNE-led development because of weak domestic firms and poor location advantages. New MNEs from emerging economies have also not shown a greater propensity to local linkages. I present an extended Lewisian multiple economy model which is a novel tool to understand FDI and development and its limitations. It helps to highlight the limits to growth from the informal economy, and why there is a bottleneck that helps explain the failure of countries to transition away from natural resources towards knowledge intensive sectors.

About the Speaker:
Rajneesh Narula is the John H. Dunning Chair of International Business Regulation at the Henley Business School, University of Reading, UK. He holds honorary appointments at UNU-MERIT, University of Urbino and Oxford University. He was appointed an Honorary Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2017. His research and consulting have focused on the role of multinational firms in development, innovation and industrial policy, technological change in developing countries, R&D alliances and outsourcing. Much of his research is focused on policy-related issues. Rajneesh is listed as one of the top 20 most cited academic authors worldwide in the fields of international business, emerging markets, economics of innovation, and economic development, according to Google Scholar. His publications with John Dunning and Sanjaya Lall on FDI-assisted development are especially well-cited contributions on the subject. He regularly acts as a consultant and advisor to the European Commission, UNIDO, UNCTAD and the OECD, World Bank, as well as a variety of other international organisations, governments and consulting firms. He is a regular commentator on business and economics issues on BBC World News, as well as a variety of print and online publications, and gives over 30 public lectures and seminars at universities around the