Direct investment

Japanese: 直接投資 - ちょくせつとうし（英語表記）direct investment

A form of international capital movement. It includes the establishment of subsidiaries in other countries, loans to subsidiaries, and the acquisition of shares of companies for the purpose of participating in management (10% or more in the balance of payments statistics). It is a concept on par with indirect investment, which is made for the purpose of obtaining financial profits. Direct investment brings about capital formation and the transfer of technology and management resources to the host country. Depending on the motivation for entering, it can be divided into production condition-oriented (such as setting up factories in low-wage countries), resource development, market-based, trade friction avoidance, and global network construction. When direct investment takes the form of vertical integration, there are advantages such as improved efficiency and increased market power, but in location theory, the agglomeration effect is also emphasized. After the Plaza Accord, Japanese companies made large-scale direct investments in a short period of time, mainly in ASEAN countries, from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, but in recent years, there has been a rapid increase in entry into China, which joined the WTO. Since the introduction of the euro, direct investments related to M&A between large European and American companies have become more active. In emerging markets, Latin America and East Asia account for the majority of direct investments.

(Naoyoshi Kinukawa, Director of Economic Research, Institute for International Monetary Affairs / 2007)

Source : "Chiezo" published by Asahi Shimbun Publications Co., Ltd. About Chiezo

Japanese:

国際資本移動の一形態。他国での子会社の設立や子会社への金銭貸付、経営参加を目的とした企業の株式取得(国際収支統計上は10%以上)などを含む。金融的収益獲得の目的で行われる間接投資と並ぶ概念。直接投資は、受け入れ国に資本形成、技術や経営資源の移転をもたらす。進出の動機によって、生産条件指向型(低賃金国への工場設置など)、資源開発型、市場密着型、貿易摩擦回避型、グローバル・ネットワーク構築型、などに分かれる。直接投資が垂直統合の形態をとる場合は、効率性の向上や市場支配力の拡大といった利点があるが、立地論上は集積効果も強調される。プラザ合意以降、日本企業は1980年代後半から90年代前半にかけて、ASEAN諸国を中心に短期間に大規模な直接投資を行ったが、近年ではWTOに加盟した中国への進出が急増している。ユーロ導入後は、欧米大企業間のM&A関係の直接投資が活発化している。新興市場では、ラテン・アメリカと東アジアが直接投資受け入れの大部分を占める。

(絹川直良国際通貨研究所経済調査部長／ 2007年)

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