POLITICAL ECONOMY AND FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

Case Overview – This assignment is intended to give you an opportunity to apply some key concepts from this course in a real world context. Specifically, you are required to select a country of your choice (not your home country), review the country’s political economy (political, economic and legal systems) from a reputable data source such as the CIA Wold Factbook (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/) and critically discuss the country’s attractiveness or otherwise for foreign direct investment.
Learning Objectives – This assignment requires you to explore and evaluate the costs and benefits of FDI with respect to your selected country in particular and host economies in general. It therefore, fulfils broad learning objectives related to this course. However, the primary learning objective of this assessment task is to appreciate the macro-economic causes of growth in an economy and the subsequent and/or consequential influence on FDI. Through an analysis of the political economy in this context, this assessment is also designed to evaluate your ability to apply your understanding of the political economy and country attractiveness for investment.
Advice – Remember that the political economy stresses that the political, economic and legal systems of a country are interdependent; they interact and influence each other, and in doing so they affect the level of economic well-being.  The study of the political economy stresses the combined effect of factors in assessing the economic well being of a country and subsequently that country’s attractiveness as a destination for foreign direct investment. In light of this, it is expected (and even encouraged) that you will overlap and integrate your discussion around the different components of political economy (e.g. the connection between political decisions and economic management being the most obvious overlap. You will find that the following reading (located in Short Loans Online) is an excellent initial source of information on the political economy: Hill, C. (2007) International Business: Competing in the Global Marketplace 6/e. McGraw-Hill Irwin, New York, Chapter 2 (National Differences in Political Economy).
Formatting, submission and word count – Size 12 font (Arial or Times New Roman) and 1.5 line spacing. You are required to submit this assessment electronically through Turnitin.  No hardcopies are required. The word count of your case study analysis is 1200 words +/- 10%. You are required to demonstrate your ability to keep within the recommended range of words while still providing a comprehensive analysis of the case.  If you go above the maximum word count you will be penalised.

Marking Criteria (second column) – the following marking criteria and marking rubric will be utilised when grading this assessment.  A more detailed explanation of these marking criteria can be provided during class.

Marks    Criteria    Unacceptable    Acceptable    Good    Very Good    Excellent
10    Knowledge and comprehension of key characteristics of the political economy of the selected country    Identifies and understands few key aspects of the political economy of the selected country    Identifies and understands some key aspects of the political economy  of the selected country    Identifies and understands most key aspects of the political economy  of the selected country     Identifies and understands all key aspects of the political economy  of the selected country
Identifies and demonstrates an integrative understanding of all key aspects of the political economy of the selected country
10    Critical analysis of data in the context of the country’s attractiveness for foreign direct investment (FDI)    Incomplete or little appraisal of how identified aspects of the political economy influence FDI    Some, but inconsistent appraisal of how identified aspects of the political economy influence FDI    Consistent appraisal of how identified aspects of the political economy  influence FDI    Consistent and in-depth appraisal of how identified aspects of the political economy  influence FDI    In-depth and well synthesised appraisal of how all aspects of the political economy influence FDI
5    Communication of case analysis is presented in a logical and well organised manner as per the case analysis task.    Unclear introduction and conclusion and uneven or illogical discussion of key aspects of the political economy  of the selected country     Clear introduction and conclusion, with some organisation around the political economy, but uneven discussion of key issues.    Some organisation and balanced discussion around key issues relating to the political economy, but not developed coherently.    Develops coherent and even discussion of all key aspects of the political economy with a clear overall organisation.    Develops discussion cogently, with even and integrated discussion of all aspects of the political economy which connects ideas with effective transitions throughout.
5    Writing General – language and grammar and referencing.    Sentence structure and grammar inadequate for clarity and/or incomplete referencing of sourced material.    Sentence structure and grammar adequate, but errors cause distraction and/or errors in referencing.     Sentence structure and grammar adequate, with minor errors that do not distract reader from the main message.     Sentence structures and grammar are good with correct referencing of all sourced material.    Employs words with fluency for ease of reading. Writing and references are essentially error free.
Please feel free to discuss any of the criteria in this rubric during class or in the Assignment 1 FAQ Discussion Forum in Blackboard.