NCCR - Is the World Flat or Mountainous? Implications for International Rules on Trade and Investment

Workshop programme

8.30 – 9.00 - Welcoming Coffee

9.00 – 9.15 - Opening Session

Welcoming Remarks
Philippe Gugler, University of Fribourg and WTI/NCCR-IP 11 Leader (webpage)
Richard Baldwin, Graduate Institute, and WTI/NCCR-IP 3 Leader (webpage)

9.15 - 10.45 - Session 1 – Multinational Enterprises' Strategies and Activities in a Shapeless World?

In his book „the World is flat“, Thomas Friedman reported that outsourcing is just one dimension of a much more fundamental phenomenon unfolding today: the flattening of the world. Massive technological investment, the explosion of software, and the plummeting price of computers and their worldwide diffusion have all come together to create a platform for intellectual work/capital to be delivered from anywhere to anywhere. This convergence has provided a whole new degree of freedom in the way people perform tasks, especially intellectual tasks. Thus, countries like India and China are now able to compete for global knowledge work as never before, and Europe or the US will be challenged as never before by this new milestone in human progress. The workshop will explore whether or not the death-of-distance is right that the location of economic activity is becoming less important, such that indeed income earners in the „rich“ countries have to “run faster” than competitors in order to “stay in the same place”.

Chair: Philippe Gugler, University of Fribourg and WTI/NCCR-IP 11 Leader

Rajneesh Narula, University of Reading, Department of Economics:
“The World is not Flat ! On the Reality and Romance of Globalisation”

Ana Teresa Tavares, University of Porto, Faculty of Economics:
“Are multinationals (and subsidiaries) strategies flat or spiky?"

Sarianna Lundan, University of Maastricht, Faculty of Economics:
“The second unbundling and the experience of Finnish MNE’s”

Discussant : James X. Zhan, Acting Director, Division on Investment and Enterprise, UNCTAD, Geneva

10.45 – 11.15 - Coffee Break

11.15 – 12.30 - Session 2 – Econometric Studies of Foreign Direct Investment in the EU

European based multinational enterprises have increased in number and significance in recent years, linked with the rapid growth of internationalization and global competition. The session will discuss four main points: FDI flows among the member states of the European Union; Inward FDI from outside the European Union; FDI outflows from selected European Union countries; The role and the needs of MNEs.

Chair: Richard Baldwin, Graduate Institute, and NCCR-IP 3 Leader

Sudip Ranjan Basu, Visiting lecturer at the Graduate Institute and UNCTAD, Geneva:
“FDI and Institutions: A Fresh Look”

Roberto de Santis, European Central Bank, Frankfurt:
“Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions and European integration”

Discussant : Christian Bellak, Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics

12.30 – 13.45 - Lunch

13.45 - 15.50 - Session 3 – Towards a European Investment Policy: parameters and challenges

The development of the European Union (EU), which involved the dismantling of bafflers to the movement of goods, capital and labor within Europe, has intensified the trend toward regional integration. Indeed it has led to a rapid increase in cross-border trade and higher levels of intra-European foreign direct investment. For all the major European countries (apart from the UK) more than half their FDI outflows are to other European countries. EU leaders officially signed the new Treaty at a Special Summit in Lisbon on 13 December. The Reform Treaty is set to come into force as soon as all 27 member states have ratified it, preferably ahead of the European elections in June 2009. Meanwhile it is of prime importance to analyze the changes this Treaty will bring in the field of European investment policy. Till now, investment remains an issue largely in the hands of the national member States. However, the new Treaty of Lisbon seems to transfer the external competence in investment to the EU. These changes will be depicted, in particular against the background of the rise of sovereign wealth funds and the ongoing negotiations with China to build a new framework for trade and investment.

Chair: Theresa Carpenter, Graduate Institute, and NCCR-IP 3 Alternate Leader

Richard Baldwin, Graduate Institute, and Leader NCCR/IP3
“The impact of the Euro on FDI and cross-border mergers / acquisition”

Julien Chaisse, WTI-IP11 Alternate Leader and University of Antwerp:
“An EU External Investment Policy? Bilateral and Multilateral Prospects”

Bertram Boie, IP11 Research fellow , World Trade Institute, Berne:
“The Sino-European legal framework for investments: facing the mountains”

Katja Gehne, WTI-IP4 Alternate Leader, World Trade Institute, Berne:

“Two opposing trends in trade? Developing a European Investment Policy versus Growing Governance Gaps in Corporate Social Responsibility”

Discussant: Francesca Sanna-Randaccio, University "La Sapienza", Rome:

15.45 – 16.00 - Concluding Remarks

Richard Baldwin, Graduate Institute, and WTI/NCCR-IP 3 Leader

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