Riccardo Crescenzi, Kerwin Datu, Simona Iammarino
May 2017
Although one of the core questions in the study of multinational enterprises (MNEs) has been typically that of where their different operations take place, the spatial dimension of MNE investments and functions is still relatively underexplored in the literature. This paper investigates the networks formed by Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by applying network analysis techniques drawn from the world city network literature. Data are extracted from the FDi Markets database to describe and analyse the geography of FDI flows among a set of 3,500 cities and towns within the European Union (EU) Member States and their neighbourhood. The paper identifies hierarchical patterns of relations between different types of locations, and gains a finer-scaled appreciation of sectoral and functional specialisations of different regions within Europe.
This is the abstract of an academic article originally published as Crescenzi, R., Datu, K. & Iammarino, S. (2012) ‘European cities and foreign investment networks’, Scienze Regionali 16(2), 229–260. Click on the following link to read the entire article (academic paywall).