A Network Analysis of Foreign Direct Investments

The fragmentation of production is a major feature of modern economies and it is completely changing how multinationals produce. We reconstruct and discuss the network of European (EU28) investing abroad firms, exploiting information from complex network analysis. The study is based on the fDi Markets database provided by the Financial Times, reporting global greenfield foreign direct investments. Keeping in due consideration both sectors and countries of destination, and without ex-ante prior, we single out the linkages among investors. we focus on three relevant sectors: Textile, Machinery and Coal, highlighting the evolution of network's structure. In order to do this, we use network indexes and we examine the internationalization activities both in terms of country of destination and characteristics of the main leaders.