1、 外文翻译 原文 Understanding Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Material Source: http:/www.going- _foreign_direct_investment.htm Author: Jeffrey P. Graham and R. Barry Spaulding Foreign direct investment (FDI) plays an extraordinary and growing role in global business. It can provide a firm with new markets
2、and marketing channels, cheaper production facilities, access to new technology, products, skills and financing. For a host country or the foreign firm which receives the investment, it can provide a source of new technologies, capital, processes, products, organizational technologies and management
3、 skills, and as such can provide a strong impetus to economic development. Foreign direct investment, in its classic definition, is defined as a company from one country making a physical investment into building a factory in another country. The direct investment in buildings, machinery and equipme
4、nt is in contrast with making a portfolio investment, which is considered an indirect investment. In recent years, given rapid growth and change in global investment patterns, the definition has been broadened to include the acquisition of a lasting management interest in a company or enterprise out
5、side the investing firms home country. As such, it may take many forms, such as a direct acquisition of a foreign firm, construction of a facility, or investment in a joint venture or strategic alliance with a local firm with attendant input of technology, licensing of intellectual property, in the
6、past decade, FDI has come to play a major role in the internationalization of business. Reacting to changes in technology, growing liberalization of the national regulatory framework governing investment in enterprises, and changes in capital markets profound changes have occurred in the size, scope
7、 and methods of FDI. New information technology systems, decline in global communication costs have made management of foreign investments far easier than in the past. The sea change in trade and investment policies and the regulatory environment globally in the past decade, including trade policy a
8、nd tariff liberalization, easing of restrictions on foreign investment and acquisition in many nations, and the deregulation and privation of many industries, has probably been the most significant catalyst for FDI s expanded role. The most profound effect has been seen in developing countries, wher
9、e yearly foreign direct investment flows have increased from an average of less than $10 billion in the 1970s to a yearly average of less than $20 billion in the 1980s, to explode in the 1990s from $26.7billion in 1990 to $179 billion in 1998 and $208 billion in 1999 and now comprise a large portion
10、 of global FDI. Driven by mergers and acquisitions and internationalization of production in a range of industries, FDI into developed countries last year rose to $636 billion, from $481 billion in 1998 (Source: UNCTAD) Proponents of foreign investment point out that the exchange of investment flows
11、 benefits both the home country (the country from which the investment originates) and the host country (the destination of the investment). Opponents of FDI note that multinational conglomerates are able to wield great power over smaller and weaker economies and can drive out much local competition
12、. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. For small and medium sized companies, FDI represents an opportunity to become more actively involved in international business activities. In the past 15 years, the classic definition of FDI as noted above has changed considerably. This notion of a change in
13、 the classic definition, however, must be kept in the proper context. Very clearly, over 2/3 of direct foreign investment is still made in the form of fixtures, machinery, equipment and buildings. Moreover, larger multinational corporations and conglomerates still make the overwhelming percentage of
14、 FDI. But, with the advent of the Internet, the increasing role of technology, loosening of direct investment restrictions in many markets and decreasing communication costs means that newer, non-traditional forms of investment will play an important role in the future. Many governments, especially
15、in industrialized and developed nations, pay very close attention to foreign direct investment because the investment flows into and out of their economies can and does have a significant impact. In the United States, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, a section of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is
16、responsible for collecting economic data about the economy including information about foreign direct investment flows. Monitoring this data is very helpful in trying to determine the impact of such investments on the overall economy, but is especially helpful in evaluating industry segments. State
17、and local governments watch closely because they want to track their foreign investment attraction programs for successful outcomes. How Has FDI Changed in the Past Decade? As mentioned above, the overwhelming majority of foreign direct investment is made in the form of fixtures, machinery, equipmen
18、t and buildings. This investment is achieved or accomplished mostly via mergers & acquisitions. In the case of traditional manufacturing, this has been the primary mechanism for investment and it has been heretofore very efficient. Within the past decade, however, there has been a dramatic increase
19、in the number of technology startups and this, together with the rise in prominence of Internet usage, has fostered increasing changes in foreign investment patterns. Many of these high tech startups are very small companies that have grown out of research & development projects often affiliated wit
20、h major universities and with some government sponsorship. Unlike traditional manufacturers, many of these companies do not require huge manufacturing plants and immense warehouses to store inventory. Another factor to consider is the number of companies whose primary product is an intellectual prop
21、erty right such as a software program or a software-based technology or process. Companies such as these can be housed almost anywhere and therefore making a capital investment in them does not require huge outlays for fixtures, machinery and plants. In many cases, large companies still play a domin
22、ant role in investment activities in small, high tech oriented companies. However, unlike in the past, these larger companies are not necessarily acquiring smaller companies outright. There are several reasons for this, but the most important one is most likely the risk associated with such high tec
23、h ventures. In the case of mature industries, the products are well defined. The manufacturer usually wants to get closer to its foreign market or wants to circumvent some trade barrier by making a direct foreign investment. The major risk here is that you do not sell enough of the product that you
24、manufactured. However, you have added additional capacity and in the case of multinational corporations this capacity can be used in a variety of ways. High tech ventures tend to have longer incubation periods. That is, the product tends to require significant development time. In the case of softwa
25、re and other intellectual property type products, the product is constantly changing even before it hits the marketplace. This makes the investment decision more complicated. When you invest in fixtures and machinery, you know what the real and book value of your investment will be. When you invest
26、in a high tech venture, there is always an element of uncertainty. Unfortunately, the recent spate of failures is quite illustrative of this point. Therefore, the expanded role of technology and intellectual property has changed the foreign direct investment playing field. Companies are still motiv
27、ated to make foreign investments, but because of the vagaries of technology investments, they are now finding new vehicles to accomplish their goals. Consider the following: Licensing and technology transfer. Licensing and tech transfer have been essential in promoting collaboration between the acad
28、emic and business communities. Ever since legal hurdles were removed that allowed universities to hold title to research and development done in their labs, licensing agreements have helped turned raw technology into finished products that are viable in competitive marketplaces. With some help from
29、a variety of government agencies in the form of grants for R&D as well as other financial assistance for such things as incubator programs, once timid college researchers are now stepping out and becoming cutting edge entrepreneurs. These strategic alliances have had a serious impact in several high
30、 tech industries, including but not limited to: medical and agricultural biotechnology, computer software engineering, telecommunications, advanced materials processing, ceramics, thin materials processing, photonics, digital multimedia production and publishing, optics and imaging and robotics and
31、automation. Industry clusters are now growing up around the university labs where their derivative technologies were first discovered and nurtured. Licensing agreements allow companies to take full advantage of new and exciting technologies while limiting their overall risk to royalty payments until
32、 a particular technology is fully developed and thus ready to put new products into the manufacturing pipeline. Recip rocal distribution agreements: Actually, this type of strategic alliance is more trade-based, but in a very real sense it does in fact represent a type of direct investment. Basicall
33、y, two companies, usually within the same or affiliated industries, agree to act as a national distributor for each others products. The classical example is to be found in the furniture industry. A U.S.-based manufacturer of tables signs a reciprocal distribution agreement with a Spanish-based manu
34、facturer of chairs. Both companies gain direct access to the others distribution network without having to pay distributor support payments and other related expenses found within the distribution channel and neither company can hurt the others market for its products. Without such an agreement in p
35、lace, the Spanish manufacturer might very well have to invest in a national sales office to coordinate its distributor network, manage warehousing, inventory and shipping as well as to handle administrative tasks such as accounting, public relations and advertising. Joint venture and other hybrid st
36、rategic alliances: The more traditional joint venture is bi-lateral, that is it involves two parties who are within the same industry who are partnering for some strategic advantage. Typical reasons might include a need for access to proprietary technology that might tip the competitive edge in anot
37、her competitors favor, desire to gain access to intellectual capital in the form of ultra-expensive human resources, access to heretofore closed channels of distribution in key regions of the world. One very good reason why many joint ventures only involve two parties is the difficulty in integratin
38、g different corporate cultures. With two domestic companies from the same country, it would still be very difficult. However, with two companies from different cultures, it is almost impossible at times. This is probably why pure joint ventures have a fairly high failure rate only five years after i
39、nception. Joint ventures involving three or more parties are usually called syndicates and are most often formed for specific projects such as large construction or public works projects that might involve a wide variety of expertise and resources for successful completion. In some cases, syndicates
40、 are actually easier to manage because the project itself sets certain limits on each party and close cooperation is not always a prerequisite for ultimate success of the endeavor. 译文 对外商直接投资的理解 资料来源 : http:/ www. go ing- globa l.co m/art ic les /understa nd ing _foreign_direct_investment.htm 作者： Je
41、ffrey P. Graham and R. Barry Spaulding 外商直接投资（ FDI）在全球经济活动中发挥着特殊的作用，它的作用也越来越大。它可以给公司提供新的市场和销售渠道，更廉价的生产设备，获得新的技术，产品和融资。对于东道国或被投资的外国公司，外商直接投资可以提供一系列的新技 术、资金、产品和管理经验，因此可以有力地推动经济的发展。外商直接投资，其经典的定义是指一个公司在一国有实物投资又到另一个国家建立另外一个工厂。在建筑，机械和设备的直接投资，这被认为是间接投资的对比。近年来，由于外商直接投资快速增长和全球投资格局的变化，这个定义已经扩大到包括在一个公司或企业离开自己的
42、母国收购境外企业的永久经营股权。因此，它可以通过许多形式进行投资如外国公司直接收购企业，或与当地企业联盟成为合资企业，随之而来的是技术的输入，知识产权被许可。在过去十年中，外商直接投资在企业的国际化中发挥着重要作 用。在资本市场变化，企业技术变革，日益自由化和国际化的投资调整和结构调整中，使外商直接投资在规模、范围、方式发生着巨大的变化。新的信息技术系统使全球通讯费用的下降，也使外商投资管理比过去容易得多。在过去 10 年海上贸易的变化和投资政策及环境的调整包括贸易政策和关税自由化，许多国家放松对外国投资和收购的限制，以及许多行业管制的放松，成为外商直接投资的扩大最重要的催化剂。 发展中国家被
43、认为是影响最深刻的，它吸引外国直接投资流量的增加从1970 年每年不到 100 亿美元，到 20 世纪 80年代少于 200 亿美元，到 90 年代的 爆炸式增加由 1990年的 267亿美元到 1998年的 1790亿美元和 1999年的 2080亿美元，占全球外商直接投资的很大一部分 通过兼并和收购以及各行业产品的国际化， 2003 年外国直接投资在发达国家的投资，从 1998 年的 4810 亿美元上升到 6360 亿美元（资料来源： 联合国贸易及发展会议 ） 支持者指出，对投资流动的利益包括母国（该国的外国投资来源）和东道国（该项投资的目的地）。外商直接投资的反对者认为跨国企业集团能够
44、执掌对较小和较弱的经济大国，可以驱动出许多地方的过度竞争。真理介于中间。 对于中小型企业，外商 直接投资提供一个更加积极地参与国际商务活动的机会。在过去 15 年中，外商直接投资的经典定义如上所述发生了巨大的变化。外商直接投资经典定义的改变，必须保持在适当的范围内。很明显，超过 2/3外资还是以数控、机器、设备和建筑形式投资。此外，大型跨国公司和企业集团仍然在外商直接投资的占绝大部分比例。但是，随着互联网的出现，技术的作用越来越大，在许多市场的直接投资限制的放宽，新的通信成本的降低，非传统形式的投资将在未来发挥重要作用。许多国家的政府，特别是在工业化国家和发达国家，都十分关注外国直接投资，因为
45、他们资金的流动 可以，而且对经济确实有重大作用。经济分析局，是美国商务部分支，负责收集有关经济的数据信息包括关于外商直接投资流量。数据监测能有效地确定外商直接投资对整体经济的影响，在工业领域也特别有用。国家和地方政府密切关注外商直接投资，因为他们要跟踪他们的外商投资项目取得的成果。 在过去十年的外商直接投资是如何改变的呢？ 如上所述，外商直接投资的绝大部分是以数控、机械、设备和建筑形式投资。这些投资的主要通过并购完成。对于传统制造业而言 ，这一直是投资的主要机制，迄今也非常的有效。然而，在过去十年中，在技术不断的创新和随着互联网的使用，促进了外商投资格局的快速变化。这些高科技创业公司，很多都非
46、常小，经常进行研究和开发项目，与各主要大学关联且能得到政府的赞助。与传统的制造商，这些企业往往并不需要庞大的生产基地和巨大的仓库来储存库存。另一个需要考虑的因素是一些公司，其主要产品是知识产权，如软件程序或软件的知识产权为基础的技术或程序。像这样几乎可以在任何地方建立其公司，因此他们在数控、机械、设备和建筑作出投资并不需要巨大的支出。 在许多情况下，投 资活动中大公司仍然发挥较小，高科技型企业占主导作用。然而，与过去不同，这些大公司并不一定直接收购小公司。原因有很多，但最重要的是最有可能与这些高科技企业的风险有关。成熟的行业产品有明确的界定。制造商通常会想靠近它的国外市场，或要作出规避外商直接
47、投资的一些贸易障碍。主要的风险是你没有销售出足够的你制造的产品。但是，您必须添加额外的资金，这些资金跨国公司本来可以用在其他的地方。 高科技企业往往有较长的潜伏期。也就是说，产品往往需要大量的开发时间。在软件和其他知识产权这类型的产品，即使很受市场欢迎，产品也是在不断 变化。这使投资决策更为复杂。当您在装置和机械投资时，你知道你投资的实际的或预计的价值。当您在高科技投资，总是有不确定的因素。不幸的是，道尔德康姆近期一连串的失败说明了这一点。 因此，技术和知识产权作用的扩大，改变了外商直接投资的竞争环境。公司仍热衷外国投资，但由于技术投资的波动，他们现在寻找新的市场，实现他们的目标。考虑以下几点
48、： 许可和技术转让。许可和技术转让是促进学术界与企业界人士参加必不可少的过程。自从法律障碍被消除，允许大学拥有所有权在实验室研究和进行开发，在竞争性市场中许可协议把技术变成了一种商品 。政府也为一些研发机构提供各种形式的补助，以及其他保障计划，如资金援助，这样不起眼的大学正加紧研究，也能成为最前沿的企业。这些战略联盟曾在若干高技术产业发挥重要作用，包括不受限制的：医疗和农业生物技术、计算机软件工程、通讯、先进材料加工、陶瓷、薄材料加工、光电子、数字多媒体制作和出版，光学及影像和机械及自动化。许可协议使公司能够充分利用新的令人兴奋的技术，同时降低了使用专利整体风险，直到技术完全研发出来和产品产业
49、化生产。 互惠经销协议。事实上，这种类型的战略联盟是以贸易为基础的，但在现实的意义上，它事实上也 代表了直接投资的类型。基本上，两家公司在同一或相关行业，通常同意充当对方的产品全国经销商。经典的例子是在家具行业中。总部设在美国的桌子生产商与西班牙的椅子制造商基于互惠签署分销协议。两家公司获得直接进入对方的分销网络，而不必支付给分销商费用和渠道分销时产生的其他相关费用，避免公司其产品在对方的市场产生竞争。如果没有这样的一个地方性协议，西班牙制造商很可能要在全国设立销售办事处，以协调其投资的分销商网络、管理仓储、库存和运输以及处理问题，如会计、公共关系和广告的管理任务。 其他混合型的战略联盟。比传统的合资企 业有更多的合作，即涉及两方在同一行业内合作的战略优势。典型的目的可能是获取专利技术，包括给奖金，希望获得有技术的昂贵的人力资源，进入迄今为止未开放的主要地区的分销渠道，在另一个竞争对手面前拥有竞争优势。一个很好的原因是如许多合资公司只涉及两方，但是由于不同的企业文化很难整合。即使有两个来自同一个国家的国内公司，仍然非常困难。所以，有两个来自不同文化的公司之间整合，这几乎是不可能的。这可能是为什么纯合资企业失败率相当高。合资企
