Dr Robert Read

Senior Lecturer

Current Research

1. International business - foreign direct investment (FDI) and the multinational enterprise (MNE).

  • The strategies and structures of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in international business, including trends in 'the global factory', sub-contracting, innovation and competition.
  • The determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI), with particular reference to size of economy, developmental level and governance;
  • Analysis of the impacts of foreign direct investment and multinational enterprises on host-countries, including direct (growth, employment, trade, technology transfer) and indirect linkages

This research has been published widely in journals (Journal of Business Research, 2022; Journal of Industry, Competition & Trade, 2021; Review of Development Economics, 2020; Thunderbird International Business Review, 2016; Journal of International Development, 2008) and monographs, notably chapters in International Business, edited by P.J. Buckley, P. Enderwick & A.R. Cross, Oxford UP 2018; Handbook of Small States, edited by L. Briguglio, Routledge 2018; Multinationals & World Trade: Vertical Integration & the Division of Labour in World Industries, edited by M.C. Casson, R. Read et al., 1986, Routledge Revivals, 2011; and The Growth of International Business, edited by M.C. Casson, 1983, Routledge Library Editions, International Business, 2014. Reports include a project on the growth and linkage (spillover) effects of foreign direct investment in the Pacific for the World Bank's Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS).

2. The growth performance and strategies of small economies encompassing:

  • The economic theory of small economies;
  • Economic policy and growth strategies in small economies;
  • FDI and its impacts on small economies;
  • Economic integration and small economies;
  • Governance and economic performance in small economies.

This research has resulted in numerous publications in leading journals (European Urban & Regional Studies, 1994, 2021; Journal of International Development, 2008, 2020; Canadian Journal of Latin American & Caribbean Studies, 2018; Economic Development & Cultural Change, 2000; World Development, 1995, 1998, 2004; The World Economy, 1998; The Round Table, 2003, 2021) and numerous contributions to monographs (see recent chapters in Handbook of Governance in Small States, 2020; Shaping the Future of Small Islands, 2020; Handbook of Small States, 2018) - often in collaboration with Professor HW Armstrong - as well as work for The World Bank and other international organisations. Linkages & Flow-On Impacts of Foreign Investment in Pacific Island Economies (with Professor N Driffield), FIAS (The World Bank) 2005; Binding Growth Constraints in Small Island Economies: Evidence Focusing On the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (with HW Armstrong & N Picarelli) for the Latin American & Caribbean Section of The World Bank, 2012. Other work includes consultancy for The ACP Group of States, The Commonwealth, The European Commission, The European Parliament, The UK Foreign Office, the UK ODA and The WTO. I also contributed an expert submission to the UNFCCC Expert Group On Economic Diversification for COP-24, Katowice, 2018.

3. The political economy of international trade and the regulatory role of the World Trade Organization.

  • Trade policy, trade liberalisation and economic growth;
  • Trade negotiation strategies;
  • Trade disputes, the WTO's Dispute Settlement Understanding and dispute settlement;
  • Policy issues relating to process and production methods (PPMs) in international trade;
  • The EU-US banana and steel trade disputes.

This research has resulted in numerous publications in journals (Sustainable Development, 2006; The World Economy, 2001, 2005; The Estey Centre Journal of International Trade Law & Policy, 2001, 2004;), edited monographs, including: Trade Liberalisation & Competition & The World Trade Organization (edited with Chris Milner), Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2002; The WTO & the Regulation of International Trade: Recent Trade Disputes Between the EU & US (edited with Nicholas Perdikis) Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2005, and numerous contributions of chapters to monographs, including Critical Perspectives On the World Trading System (edited by K. Anderson), Handbook On Trade Policy (edited by W. Kerr & J. Gaisford), The WTO & Dispute Resolution (edited by . K. Padmaja) and The Caribbean Economies in an Era of Free Trade (edited by N. Karagiannis & M. Witter).


01/08/2011 → 28/02/2012
Consultancy


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Participation in conference -Mixed Audience


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Participation in workshop, seminar, course


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  • Economics Research Group
  • Political Economy and International Trade