World Investment Report 2011: Non-equity Modes of International Production and Development, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Geneva, 2011, 226 pp.

The World Investment Report 2011 examines the key trends of global and regional foreign investment including the investment policy regime trends as well as development in non-equity modes of international production. The report is divided into four chapters. Chapter one discusses the global investment trends, foreign direct investment (FDI) as external sources of finance to developing countries and the expansion of international production. The report argues that developing as well as transition economies, for the first time, attracted more than half of the global FDI flows and also accounted for the highest outward FDI, especially to other economies in the South. In this aspect, the East, South-East Asia and Latin America recorded the strongest FDI growth. Overall, FDI in 2010 recovered modestly after the significant decline in 2008 and 2009. In addition, the international production has expanded through the activities of the transnational corporations (TNCs) by generating nearly US$16 trillion value added outputs accounting for about a quarter of global GDP. Sector wise, manufacturing still dominates while there is a decline in the overall FDI for primary and services sector. Industries which are highly subject to business cycle such as metal and electrical and electronics as well as wood and wood products recorded a decline in FDI levels. Despite capturing the main trends of FDI in various sectors, the report devotes less time explaining the underlying reasons for such trends. In some cases, anecdotal evidence is given to support the changes in the trends of FDI flows. Nevertheless, the report provides useful information in understanding the overall FDI landscape.