Direktinvestitionen, Fusionen und Strukturwandel

Foreign direct investment - the major driving force of globalization - is increasingly dominated by merger and acquisition activities. Since the mid-1990s, an unprecedented wave of foreign direct investment and a corresponding wave of cross-border mergers and acquisitions can be observed. As a result, the structure of firms and of entire industries is fundamentally reshaped. The degree of horizontal integration has been increased, whereas vertical integration has been reduced. Transborder investments are basically motivated by the exploitation of economies of scale from headquarter services, which are of rising importance in the transition towards the New Economy.