Place marketing, policy integration and governance complexity: an analytical framework for FDI promotion

Abstract

This paper focuses on the marketing of regions and cities within the global market for foreign direct investments (FDIs). In a context in which place marketing and place branding are employed as tools for local and regional development, this paper aims to discuss, within the broader place marketing and branding discourse, the extent to which FDI promotion has evolved in pursuit of the relative economic prosperity of local communities. In so doing, this paper investigates the evolution of FDI promotion and its degree of integration with diverse local policy domains. The cases of Ontario (Canada), Tuscany (Italy) and Western Switzerland are taken as illustrative examples of the intertwining of the three dimensions that this paper identifies as fundamental to the analysis of FDI promotion, namely (a) FDI policy generation, (b) the relationship of place branding and place marketing and (c) governance complexity. In light of the results, the relation between FDI promotion and strategic planning is discussed, by drawing attention to critical aspects of policy integration.