This book presents important and original studies of international trade and investment in relation to regional economic integration, with particular reference to the experiences of Europe and East Asia. The distinguished contributors illustrate and explain how the location decisions of firms, international trade and capital flows can form, stimulate and shape economic regions in the global economy. The authors address several important themes including: * the factors which determine the location choices of multinational firms * location decisions of multinational firms in relation to their global performance * the growing importance of East Asia as a recipient zone for foreign direct investment * the impact of foreign direct investment on Asian host countries * the role of trade and investment in regional economic integration. Economic Integration and Multinational Investment Behaviour will be welcomed by researchers with an interest in economic geography, international economics and business, European and East Asian studies, and globalization.

This book presents various empirical analyses of cross border strategies adopted by global firms with a particular emphasis on the European and East Asian experiences. It also provides studies of the trends and prospects of regional economic integration, focusing mainly on East Asia. The book addresses the topic of economic integration from both a corporate perspective and a policy perspective. The contributors illustrate the powerful integrative effects of cross border strategies of global firms and their impact on the increasing economic interdependence between countries, as shown for example by production sharing within multinational corporate networks. For their part, governments and policy makers are endeavouring to influence the path of globalisation by means of international cooperation, among which the shaping of regional economic areas is an outstanding one. While Europe still stands unrivalled in terms of its regional integration achievements, East Asian countries are also trying to forge their own path by building preferential trade and investment links on a regional basis.Such attempts are still in their infancy, but they raise some healthy debates to which this edited book makes a valuable contribution. Corporate Strategies in the Age of Regional Integration will appeal to scholars and researchers of economics, business and regional studies.

This book examines in depth science diplomacy, a particular field of international relations, in which the interests of science and those of foreign policy intersect. Building on a wealth of examples drawn from history and contemporary international relations, it analyzes and discusses the links between the world of scientists and that of diplomats. Written by a professor of economics and former Embassy counselor for science and technology, the book sets out to answer the following questions: Can science issues affect diplomatic relations between countries? Is international scientific cooperation a factor for peace? Are researchers good ambassadors for their countries? Is scientific influence a particular form of cultural influence on the world stage? Do diplomats really listen to what experts say when negotiating on the future of the planet? Is the independence of the scientist threatened by science diplomacy? What is a scientific attache for?

This book examines in depth science diplomacy, a particular field of international relations, in which the interests of science and those of foreign policy intersect. Building on a wealth of examples drawn from history and contemporary international relations, it analyzes and discusses the links between the world of scientists and that of diplomats. Written by a professor of economics and former Embassy counselor for science and technology, the book sets out to answer the following questions: Can science issues affect diplomatic relations between countries? Is international scientific cooperation a factor for peace? Are researchers good ambassadors for their countries? Is scientific influence a particular form of cultural influence on the world stage? Do diplomats really listen to what experts say when negotiating on the future of the planet? Is the independence of the scientist threatened by science diplomacy? What is a scientific attache for?

The financial turmoil of the late 1990s resulted partly from an excessive dependency between countries and regions. This important and timely new book examines the growing interdependency between Europe and East Asia and provides suggestions to prevent financial crises in the future.Special attention is given to the contributions of international trade and investment to deeper regional and global integration, and particular emphasis is placed on major issues such as: the organization of multinationals and the relationship between exports and foreign direct investment Asian and European firms as global actors and the role of trade in the integration of the two regions the changing patterns of East Asian economies as host and home countries for direct investment In conclusion the authors argue that more emphasis should be placed on direct investment rather than speculative inflows. This will create a more stable environment for the contribution of foreign capital to the growth of East Asian economies, and reduce both dependency between regions and the risk of financial instability in the future. The Global Integration of Europe and East Asia will be welcomed by those working in the fields of international economics and business, European and Asian Studies and the globalization of the world economy.