Foreign Direct Investment. Although foreign direct investment (FDI) contributes to growth in developing countries, there is evidence that the benefits are not equally distributed. Foreign-owned firms tend to pay higher wages in developing countries, but skilled workers tend to benefit more than less-skilled workers. This conclusion is based on new research conducted into the effects of FDI on wages in five East Asian economies and the effects of foreign ownership in five African countries. While FDI may support development in the aggregate, more attention should be focused on the distribution of gains from FDI, notably effects on wage inequality. "Foreign Direct Investment: Who Gains?" by Dirk Willem te Velde and Oliver Morrissey is published by the Overseas Development Institute.

By Overseas Development Institute, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines.

International Trade Policy Resource.

Liberalizing Trade in the EU. Jette Steen Knudsen asks why and how services that were not previously thought of as tradable have increasingly been opened up to international competition in EU member states including even in Germany. "A Paradigm Shift: Services Trade Reform in the European Union" is published by the Danish Institute of International Affairs (DUPI).

By Danish Institute of International Affairs (DUPI)., EU, Denmark.

International Trade Policy Resource.

Foreign Direct Investment & EU Tax Harmonisation. What would the effect of tax competition between EU states be on foreign direct investment? The Centre d'Etudes Prospectives et d'Informations Internationales have provided this econometric analysis of the impact of taxes on the decision of firms to locate their activities in other countries. This is a sophisticated research paper which helps to shed light on the debate over the harmonisation of taxes in Europe. By Agnès Bénassy-Quéré, Lionel Fontagné and Amina Lahrèche-Révil..

By CEPII, France.

International Trade Policy Resource.