Introduction

Introduction International capital flows in the form of foreign direct investments (FDI) have been fundamental to the evolution of the modern international economic system since the seventeenth century. Ever since early precursors like the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Landsche Ge-Oktroyeerde Oostindische), the Massachusetts Bay Company, and other international merchants established a permanent position outside their home countries through the purchase of existing enterprises and/or by establishing new ones through Greenfield investments, FDI has been an important corporate strategy, an effective tool of statecraft, and a major contributing factor to the expansion of the global market economy. This has been particularly evident since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 and the simultaneous embracing of liberal economic policies worldwide.