The Mercosur countries have received significant foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows during the last decades. This could generate considerable macroeconomic benefits for its recipients, with positive effects on the growth of investment, employment, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and foreign currency.
Investments could also generate microeconomic benefits on productivity, innovation and exports, as well in environmental matters. MercoNet research in this area analyzes the costs and benefits of FDI in Mercosur countries, and generates policy recommendations in order to take better advantage of its potential benefits. opportunities to promote it through common regional policies. Several studies have been undertaken on different production chains and key sectors in Mercosur such as the software and automotive industries.
Mercosur Network Series N° 10 Since its start, MercoNet has made an important contribution to the study of foreign direct investment (FDI) with this research being picked up by numerous publications. Most recently, it developed research on the automotive industry, due to its importance in the composition of FDI flowing into the region, as well as its impacts on the respective economies regarding employment, technological development, balance of trade and for the priority which has always been given to this industry in terms of public policy and the controversial place this industry has occupied in Mercosur negotiations.
Serie Red Mercosur N° 8 MercoNet was created in 1998 with the fundamental objective of strengthening and promoting the contribution of economic research to the advancement and strengthening of the integration process in Mercosur. This book, which is the eighth in the Mercosur Network Series, contributes to the consolidation and advances of the bloc on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of signing the Asuncion Treaty (1991). The book synthesizes the research contributions into three fundamental thematic areas:
Serie Red Mercosur N° 7 The Mercosur region, and Argentina and Brazil in particular, were important in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) during the 1990s, and even today continue to attract important investment flows, although on a lesser scale. As a consequence, the presence of transnational companies and the degree of internationalization of the Mercosur economies have greatly increased in the last few years. These changes had visible impacts on the reorganization of some industrial sectors and services that went from being nationally controlled to being controlled by foreign company subsidiaries.
MercoNet Series N° 1 Mercosur, and Argentina and Brazil in particular, have been important centers for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) during the 1990s. For this reason, the presence of transnational companies has grown substantially in the four Mercosur countries. When the participation of the transnational branches in external sales and trade structures is considered, these economies rank among the most “transnationalized” in the world.
