1. Proposed Topic Area
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No
1. Have you clearly indicated the discipline or sub-discipline in which your area of interest resides?
X
The proposed dissertation will focus on States within Nigeria as a developing country, with a focus on the role played by Investment Promotion Agencies in attracting foreign direct investment within the Federal Governing System operated by the country.
2. Proposed Working Title
Yes
No
1. Have you clearly indicated the particular focus or areas of focus that you will address within your chosen topic area?
X
2. Are you sure this is not a strategic question? (check Fisher 2007, p. 34)
X
Inward investment promotion is becoming increasingly practiced by governments across the globe in a quest for increasing the flows of foreign direct investment (FDI). Africa is witnessing an increase in investments attracted to the continent, and it will be interesting to investigate how countries within market (in particular States in the Nigeria) their assets and capabilities to compete in attracting tangible investments.
Hence, the proposed working title is;“TheRole of Investment Promotion Agencies at Attracting Foreign Direct Investment and Their Impact on Economic Development in Nigeria.(Comparative Perspective of the Federal and State Agencies)”
3. Proposed Research Aims
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No
1. Have you been explicit about what is it that you are trying to find out or resolve?
X
* Determining the role of Investment Promotion Agencies (IPA) in State Governments within Nigeria
* Identifying if difference in approaches result in varying levels of attracted FDI
* Is the existence of IPA’s within States relevant? Since the country has a national IPA?
4. Research Context
Yes
No
1. Have you provided a clear indication of why this is a business and management related topic of interest?
X
2. Have you been explicit about the organisation/ the organisational section/ region/nation, and feasibility of data collection?
X
The focal point of this intended research is investigating the role, relevance and impact of IPA’s on levels of FDI and economic growth within a developing economy. An IPA could be defined as a private, governmental or quasi-governmental organisation that is set-up in order to promote new State/country institutional environmental assets and opportunities to investors in order to harness the FDI potential of the area (Musila and Sigue, 2006).
Considering the fact that countries are left with the predicament of strategic decision making and marketing of their country/state in order to promote their assets. IPA’s are positioned with high levels of significance in order to compete in attracting potential investment flows. Hence, it is anticipated that this research will contribute to the discipline of business and management in three main folds.
* Providing a closer look at the relationships between IPA’s and the state governments within developing economies (Nigeria).
* Providing insights on IPA’s that can inform managerial decision making.
* Contributing to the body of literature that does not cover developing economies such as Nigeria.
In the analysis of country choices towards determining different roles of IPA’s respective structures and processes. It involves the application of various business and management disciplines ranging from marketing, strategy and planning, economics, to project management among others. Consequently, it is believed that such analysis will warrant the application of various business and management aspects in order to succeed.
As competition between governments increase in the struggle for attracting the most FDI through IPA’s, the role played by such agencies to harness available opportunities could be seen an interesting concern. Especially as the majorly governments prefer to be in control of decision making outcomes which is to a great degree strategic. Therefore, it is plausible that this intended research could facilitate the decision of management officials by identifying the role of IPA’s in economic growth, which could inform strategic managerial decision making.
In 2009, Nigeria was ranked 19th in the world in attracting FDI into the country (UNCTAD, 2009), which was directed towards the resulting efforts of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC). However, since national independence, Nigeria adopted a Federal Republic political governing system, which provides a limitation on the power of the central government, thereby enabling States to retain a degree of self-government (Watts, 1998). As such, State governments are able to undertake some form of investment promotion either through IPA’s or individual ministries in order to attract FDI to their respective areas. Due to the level of investment made by the federal and state governments in seeking to attract FDI through their respective IPA’s, it is suggested that research is required (Wells and Wint, 2000), especially to determine the relevance of IPA’s existing within States.
Nigeria as the intended case country constitutes 36 state governments which all have some form of investment promotion unit or the other. The research is anticipated to involve the NIPC and a number of other IPA’s in respective State Governments. Research feasibility is set at above medium since most state governments are out to attract FDI, therefore points of contact will be readily available via internet or respective Government Houses (Head Offices).
5. Outline Literature Review
Yes
No
1. Have you provided an overview of work in the field?
2. Have you ensured you include ‘authors & arguments & themes’?
3. Have you critiqued in depth, the work of at least two authors in relation to: their choice of research methods, their findings and their conclusions?
4. Have you ensured that this section links directly to your Research Questions?
Individuals, nations and Multinational corporations are frequently exposed to varying levels of uncertainty on attempting to invest in a foreign country. Among these issues may comprise the difficulty of getting information and possible risk associated with investing in such markets which are associated with lack of knowledge of the host country from the part of the investors (UNCTAD, 1998). Over the years there has been an increasing level of research done on FDI and how it could be attracted, the role and importance of IPA’s in creating investor friendly climates within countries. FDI to a great degree is considered as a stimulant for economic growth and a supplement to financial, technical and technological shortages within developing economies (Mwilima, 2003), thereby serving as opportunities. However, as much as IPA’s have been regarded as central to facilitating the inward flow of FDI into countries, research on investment promotion and these institutions is limited (Wells and Wint, 1990; Loewendahl, 2001).In order to provide a sense of structure, academic literature relating to IPA’a will be grouped into three.
(a) Major Analysis’s made by the foreign investment analysis service (FIAS) of the World Bank and academics that have similar or contributing researches; (b) Researches executed by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)/ United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO); and (c) policy papers created by varying global investment promotion support or organisations.
Foreign Investment Analysis Service
(FIAS)
Interestingly, most researches made on IPA’s have been based on the initial research from Wells and Wint in 1990 called ‘Marketing a Country’. This research has remained the main practical study relating investment promotion and FDI flows (Wells and Wint, 1990). The research was based on the effectiveness of IPA’s in promoting FDI through considerations of image-building activity, investment-generating activity, and investment service techniques. Given levels of certain ambiguities in their measurements of promotion within countries, their justification of utilised statistical approaches suggests further research is required within the field. A similar research based on the effectiveness of IPA’s on inward FDI flows was carried out by Morisset and Andrews Johnson (2003) using more recent data. In their findings they were able to conclude that a positive relationship exists between financial expenditure of IPA’s and the levels of FDI inflows into the respective countries (Morisset and Johnson, 2003) through an analysis of 58 samples. Though a limitation to the research carried out would be that the analysis was only carried out from data provided in 2001, therefore it is lacking in time-dimension.
However, Young et al. (1994) researched on the significance of IPA’s in host country policy creation for facilitating FDI inflows. It was highlighted that provision of incentives, assistance, policy formulation and post-investment client monitoring should be incorporated in the creation of FDI policies. In taking a deeper look, it was suggested that such policy creation as a role for IPA’s were expected to increase within that decade (1990’s) (Young et al., 1994). Policy advocacy was further added as a function that should be implemented by IPA’s in Wells (1999) research. Highlighting how bureaucratic processes and procedures faced by investors could be limited using an example from Mozambique CPI (Centro de Promocao de Investimentos). He further categorised services to be provided into three; assisting in initial investment decisions (essential procedures to be followed); facilitating implementation of the investment, which may involve legal or financial settlements; and post-investment services. Concluding that the aims and ambitions of a given country (target) should reflect the amount of authority granted their IPA in order for them to attract FDI effectively.
In a more recent research, Lim (2007) looked into the effective mediation of IPA’s between the government and potential investors. Highlighting that while Wells and Wint (1990) identified the effectiveness of IPA’s and Andrew-Johnson (2003) concluded with identifying a positive relationship between financial capacity of the IPA and levels of FDI inflow. Improvements are not likely to take place just by increase in the financial/resource base of the IPA. Rather, it should be supported through an efficient coordination of the IPA’s affairs and policy creation. Thereby creating an IPA that will have the potential to fully represent the government since investment promotion is not the only essential activity of an IPA (Lim, 2008). However, a limitation to the study was that IPA structures (quasi-government, private and government) were not considered which could have provided an increased justification of proper IPA mediation (Lim, 2008). The singular factor that remains constant for these researches is their concentration on national IPA’s and how they can be improved relative to their exercised role.
United Nation Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
The researches carried out by UNCTAD are similar to the works established by FIAS, and are based on collating and providing the varying levels of performance and identifiable trends around the world. Equally highlighting best practices that are utilised in investment promotion. One of the early publications of UNCTAD is the ‘Survey of Best Practices in Investment Promotion’ which highlighted the best practices that can be applied by IPA’s in developing economies to enable increased efficiency in policy creation and implementation of practices (UNCTAD, 1997). The World Investment Report is another one of the researches that highlights the trends and performances of IPA’s all over the world, providing a summary of structures and tools adopted by IPA’s (UNCTAD, 2008). In their 10th research release, they provide detailed information on the flows of FDI into Africa. However, it had been categorically stated that data used were from transnational corporations and African countries, and in some cases the integrity of the data across countries vary. Furthermore, a limitation to the analysis is that it does not look into specific countries and how the FDI is actually being attracted as a result of IPA’s effectiveness or role within countries.
A number of similar researches have equally been made by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), who have published among others ‘Guidelines for Investment Promotion Agencies’, ‘Africa Foreign Investor Survey’, and ‘Expert Group Meeting: Investment for African productive Capacity’; which are all connected to the strategy, procedure and policy guide to improving the effectiveness of IPA’s for Africa (UNIDO, 2003a; UNIDO, 2003b; UNIDO, 2007). Similar to the researches made through FIAS and their respective modifications, UNCTAD and UNIDO publications are set out to improve the performance of IPA’s on a country basis.
Other Policy Related Documents
The importance of FDI and the importance of IPA’s surrounding the attraction of tangible/substantial inward flows cannot be under rated. The World Bank Group through its Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency produces policy papers for developing countries on how they can effectively create and streamline their policy adoptions to meet better performance of their investment attraction.
IPA’s can counter these factors by providing potential investors with information and investor servicing. The marketing potential of IPAs gained through experience, a well-structured, well-staffed overseas network is particularly important since investors are more likely to visit a country after making initial contact at an overseas office.
it could be suggested that the limitation to the research is closely related to the research carried out by Wells and Wint. This equallyon which to th which classifies strategies and procedures of IPA’s that have become a standard in describing their operations (Wells, 1999).
In this section you should review the existing academic knowledge base, and where relevant, industry or governmental literature. The major emphasis here is on explaining who is researching what question in this field.
To do this use research articles in academic journals with some link to governmental literature, e.g. policy initiatives, and business practices e.g. from industry journals. Research focused books can be used, but move beyond textbooks.
Do not simply regurgitate lists of authors or articles, but instead weave together an argument which is yours, and which is critical rather than descriptive.
You should make sure that you include in your critique how the authors of at least two articles have collected and analysed their research data; this will give you some useful and important insight into how YOU could collect YOUR data-detailed in later in section 7.
Key diagrams and illustrations of concepts and theories can be included here. Conclude the review by indicating the research opportunities (the gap in the literature) that your research will fit into, and link these EXPLICITLY to your research questions.
6. Research Questions (s)
Yes
No
1. Have you briefly outlined your research question(s) and articulated clearly what exactly you intend to find out.
2. Do these questions link directly to the work outlined in the Literature Review Section above?
3. Have you explained what key operationalisable concepts you are interested in using?
4. Have you expressed your question(s) which can be answered in the time available (feasibility), rather than as vague expressions of what you might do?
5. Do your questions pick up the key themes explored above in the outline literature and do they link directly to the research strategy that you describe below?
* Do investment promotion agencies within Nigerian States play a significant role in attracting foreign direct investments?
* Do quantitative and qualitative differences exist in attracted investment between States?
In this section you should indicate your research questions; these must be clearly linked to both the literature used in section 5, and your research aims in section 3.
Ensure that you operationalise key concepts and avoid terms that are difficult to measure such as ‘success’.
Ensure these research questions are tractable; you will find more than three or four research questions difficult to answer in your allocated timescale.
Do not include your interview or questionnaire questions here; these are too fine detail for this section. You may wish to state each research question followed by a paragraph that operationalises key concepts and provides the links back to the literature.
7. Research Strategy/Methods
Yes
No
1. Have you provided a clear description of how you plan to carry out your research?
2. Have you explained why you have chosen particular research methods?
3. Have you clearly identified your population and sample(s)?
4. Have you identified what data you anticipate collecting?
5. Have you indicated what forms of analysis you propose to undertake?
6. Have you identified the major sources of risk (e.g. over reliance on a single individual/company, access requirements, time requirements)?
In this section propose how you intend to answer your research questions. Be specific and include justification for each part of your research strategy. You need to clearly indicate how you will undertake primary research, or for the investment strategy route, how you intend to create primary research (e.g. primary analysis) from existing secondary data/sources.
Include details of who holds the information you require, how you will create a sampling frame (this also applies to secondary data), how will you collect your research data and what form that data is in, how this data will be analysed, etc. Do not simply state imprecise terms such as financial data, managers or employees – detail what type and level of manager in the organisation, what type of organisation(s), what type of financial data, etc.
Identify sources of risk that might prevent you from collecting data and discuss how you will get over these problems. What problemsof access to the people/organisations you need to collect data might you foresee; what contingency plans do you have if these occur?
8. Ethical and legal concerns
Yes
No
1. Have you provided a clear description of any potential ethical concerns within your project, including during the collection of data or presentation of findings?
2. Have you described how you will preserve confidentiality and anonymity of organisations and individual respondents?
3. Have you ensured you have discussed means for respondents to know about the research and their role within it, and that their participation is voluntary according to the principle of informed consent?
4. Have you considered whether anygood or harm may be caused by the research to individuals or organisations?
5. Have you discussed if there any ethical guidelines in the field (e.g. from professional bodies) that you will be following?
6. Have you discussed how you will ensure that any data held on respondents is to be processed according to the Data Protection Act 1998, and stored according to safe practices (e.g. in a secured (electronic) container)?
If you are undertaking
any
primary research
or primary analysis of secondary data
, you must give further details below about how you will address any ethical issues within your research:
1.Specific Ethical or Legal Concerns With Your Research Project
Identify what ethical or legal concerns that there may be with your project – be precise and detailed. We do not expect an essay on research ethics; detail the ethical concerns in YOUR project. Just because you may be using secondary data/sources does not mean that there are no ethical concerns. There are and you must acknowledge them.
2.Preservation of Confidentiality and Anonymity
If you are collecting data from respondents or using pre-existing data that is not in the public domain, identify how you will preserve individuals’ and organisations’ confidentiality and anonymity. Link this to identified ethical or legal concerns of the project.
3.Informed Consent
If you are collecting data from respondents, what procedures and safeguards do you intend to use to ensure respondents know what they are getting into and can demonstrate informed consent.
4.Potential Good or Harm Caused by the Research
What good or harm may be caused by the research, e.g. managers identifying individual employees for reward or ‘punishment’, or for secondary sources by producing analysis that may have a positive or negative impact e.g. on share price.
5.Ethical Guidelines in the Field
What guidelines in the field are there that will guide your research ethics and how will these be applied?
6. Processing and Storage of Data
How do you intend to process and store your collected data in accordance with relevant legislation.
9. Schedule
Yes
No
1. Have you identified the key stages and dates for activities that must be completed before others can start?
2. Have you identified what problems with access can you anticipate?
3. Have you identified what activities are necessary in their own right and which are conditional on others being completed?
Outline the critical set of steps and activities that your research project will have; what is the sequence of these activities and when approximately they will be performed and completed. For example, data analysis can only take place after data collection.
10. General Guidelines
Yes
No
1. Have you avoided using lists or bullet points?
2. Have you just described an author or author’s work instead of explaining or critically evaluating it?
3. Have you clearly linked the paragraphs within each section, and the sections themselves?
4. Have you proof read your work and ensured there are no spelling, grammatical, or copy errors?
5. Have you ensured that you have included a complete set of references in Harvard format?