FOREIGN INVESTMENT, DEVELOPMENT, AND GLOBALIZATION: CAN COSTA RICA BECOME IRELAND?

"Foreign Investment, Development, and Globalization: Can Costa Rica Become Ireland? clearly identifies some of the key factors that determine whether small latecomers to economic development (SLCs) will or will not succeed in today's global economy. Focusing on high-tech foreign direct investment, Eva Paus shows that it promotes long-term development gains only if SLCs possess or can develop the particular capabilities that match transnational corporations' strategic interests in their expansion of global production networks. Using Ireland and Costa Rica as case studies, Paus theoretically and empirically argues that unless SLCs can summon the political will and economic resources necessary to address pervasive market failures, foreign direct investment will not advance SLCs' knowledge-based assets, upon which development ultimately depends." "Moving beyond academic theory, Paus relies on extensive empirical research including interviews with government policy-makers and corporate decision-makers to reveal the complex web of contingencies that will determine the economic future of small countries. Her book's combination of theoretical heterodoxy, comparative empirical analysis, and original research is an important contribution to our understanding of the FDI-development nexus."--BOOK JACKET.