Summary

This book on international business merges managerial decision-making in with the conceptual tools provided by international economics. It integrates the theoretical study of international trade and foreign direct investment with the actual strategic and operational decisions of exporters and multinational enterprises. The book first covers some basic material on exchange rates that is essential for understanding all types of international business transactions. It then focuses on trade, first analyzing the gains from trade and then enumerating the many costs of cross-border goods and service transactions and identifies four essential elements of a multinational strategy: factor advantages, trade costs, scale economies, and market sizes. In addition, the volume covers issues of central importance to firms that invest overseas: political risk, taxation, and expatriate assignment.