Wong MNC Center Executive Director Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Ph.D. Presents Paper at International Studies Association Annual Meeting
At the 2022 International Studies Association annual meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Founding Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations, presented a paper about Chinese outward foreign direct investment (FDI) and technology transfer (TT) to host countries; i.e., the places where FDI takes place, focusing on developing countries. Dr. Blanchard highlighted key themes emphasized in past research, identified the shortcomings of the existing literature, and enumerated numerous reasons why it made little sense to expect significant TT between Chinese business and host countries and their firms. Aside from these themes, Dr. Blanchard presented information about the empirical record regarding Chinese outward FDI and TT in Africa. The record indicated an impressive quantity of TT, an unimpressive quality of TT, and that the variables influencing TT—e.g., absorptive capacity and technological appropriateness—Dr. Blanchard identified correlated with observed results.