COMPETITIVE FACTORS AFFECTING INTERNATIONAL DIRECT INVESTMENTS IN BRAZIL

ABSTRACT Purpose: To explore, describe and explain the relationship between the disposition of an international investor to invest in Brazil and the country´s competitive environment, in order to identify the existing relevant factorswhich stimulate investments. Originality/gap/relevance/implications: It states in the fact that it applies a multivariate analysis in order to establish and explain the relationship among several quantitative variables. Key methodological aspects: The identification of such relations came from the application of a canonical analysis between the FDI as inbound flow and accumulation, and a series of explicative variables, representative of the Brazilian competitive environment. The data from 1997 to 2011 came from national and international sources. Summary of key results: The output shows a strong correlation between the FDI in Brazil and some indicators of the country's competitive environment. Key considerations/conclusions: We established a strong correlation between the FDI and the Brazilian competitive environment, demonstrated through the two canonical functions generated. The relevant explicative variables which stimulated FDI in Brazil are the well-being of the society, the labor productivity and the imports. The paper offers a simple tool for the previous analysis of the process of the decision making regarding investment.