gers and acquisitions reached record levels in 1996"...and..."the impact of cross-border mergers and acquisitions on total foreign direct investment flows is likely togrow in the future".It is estimated that after eight years of continuous growth cross-border mergers and acquisitions reached a record $263 million in 1996, which is equivalent to about 80% of the total amount of flows of foreign direct investment towards less developed societies.The OECD publication explains that "international and national mergers are driven by the same general set of industrial considerations, but there are nevertheless certain differences in emphasis depending on whether the merger involves firms from different countries. International mergers arise partly because markets are still segmented and the acquisition of a local firm afford the quickest access to the foreign market. Domestic mergers are more likely to be driven by the desire to achieve economies of scale, although even national markets may also be segmented to some degree. As global integration continues, industrial consolidation will gradually become more important than geographical diversification, even for international mergers".Thus, against a trend to faster concentration of transnational capital, the pattern of foreign investment changes to follow the trend. Table 1 gives some useful indicators.________________________________________________________________________TABLE 1. TOTAL INFLOWS, BY HOST REGION/COUNTRY in US$ millions and percentageRegion/country 1984-1989 1990-1995Total in US$ million 692,220 1,278,237TOTAL WORLD (%) 100 100DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 81 68 European Union 33 40 Other Western Europe 2 2 Canada 4 3 United Sates ...
