Discussion about the positive and negative effects of foreign private investment has been going on for years. In the opinion of the authors, the varying benefits and costs of foreign investments to a host country suggest specific policies to optimise their mix.

In 1973 the Department of Trade and Industry has published a commissioned study of the effects on Britain of the inward flow of foreign direct investment. The present article summarizes some of the conclusions of this report, but is not meant to be a review of it, as it is written by its...