Sample Research Proposal on The Role of FDI in the Economic Growth of China

Introduction  In the past decade there has been considerable interest in the 'forces for globalization'. Of these, the international trade in goods and services and the increase in international production through multinational corporations have been identified as being important factors. In 2000 global private foreign direct inflows (FDI) reached US$1.1 trillion compared to US$159 billion in 1991. In fact, the annual growth rate of FDI during the past decade exceeded the growth of both the international trade in goods and services and output. This rapid growth in FDI has raised a number of policy issues at the national and international level (Bora 2002). Foreign direct investment is one of a multinational enterprise's many activities; albeit an essential one for without the investment there is no extension of the firm and no internalization that is fundamental to an analysis of the international business.   A multinational enterprise provides intra-firm connections, a tissue that unifies on a regular basis; it is not merely a channel for one-time transactions but a basis for different sorts of internal and external organizational relationships. The study of the history of multinational enterprise is, moreover, distinct from the rich and extensive literature on the history of the world economy (Brewer & Rugman 2001). While at its most basic level foreign direct investment is a dollar of capital crossing an international border, in reality the issues surrounding FDI are more complex. FDI is essentially a package of potentially wealth creating assets that can have a significant impact on home and host countries. The issues relating to FDI range from theories of commercial presence and management issues to the impact of FDI on trade employment, wages, intellectual property and development (Bora 2002). The study intends to find out more things about FDI and its role in the growth of China's economy during the years 1979 up to the year 2004.   Research Questions Typical research questions concern the effects of marketing instruments and household-specific characteristics on various marketing performance measures. Examples of these measures are sales, market shares, brand choice and inter-purchase times. Given knowledge of these effects, one can decide to use marketing instruments in a selective manner. Recent advances in data collection and data storage techniques, which result in large data bases with a substantial amount of information, seem to have changed the nature of marketing research (Franses & Paap 2001).  Generally, the study intends to find out the role of FDI in the economic growth of China.  Specifically, the study will try to answer the following questions:  1.      What are the significant events in China's economy? 2.      Is China's economy on the way up? 3.      What can FDI do to a certain economy? 4.      Is FDI the best thing that can boost the economy of a country? 5.      What can FDI do for china's economy to achieve growth? Aims The main aim of the study is determine how the FDI plays a role in the economic development of China. The study has other aims this include finding about what FDI can do to a country. Another aim is to determine the different changes that happened to China's economy. Lastly an aim of the study is to know and determine the ideas and feelings of people towards FDI and its role towards China's economy.    Data Collection Type of research This study will use the descriptive type of research. Descriptive method of research is to gather information about the present existing condition.  The purpose of employing this method is to describe the nature of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study and to explore the cause/s of particular phenomena (Creswell 1994). This research is partly based on quantitative research method. This allowed for an investigation of important new issues and questions as they arose. In addition, this study also employed partly qualitative research method, since this research intends to find theories that would explain the relationship of one variable with another variable through qualitative elements in research. These qualitative elements are behavior, attitudes, opinions, and beliefs. The study opted to use this kind of research considering the goal of the study to obtain first hand data from the respondents so as to formulate rational and sound conclusions and recommendations for the study.  Research Strategy For this research data will be gathered through collating published studies from different books, articles from different related journals and studies, and other literary instruments. Afterwards make a content analysis of the collected documentary and verbal material. The study will then summarize all the necessary information. The study will then make a conclusion based on the said information.   Data Collection and Analysis The study shall use survey using questionnaires and interviews to gather pertinent data. The study will gather data from different people who have ideas about the economic growth of the country and people who know things about FDI and what it can do to a certain country. Moreover, the study shall also use previous studies and compare it to its existing data in order to provide conclusions and competent recommendations. Data analysis             Data gathered will be analyzed through frequency distributions. These will give way to reviewing the data categories and the number of referrals in each category. With relation to data analysis, the indicators that will be used in evaluating the study include the age of the respondent; the social status; the educational attainment of the respondents; and the occupation of the respondents in the China.