Alison Hearne
Insitute of Technology Carlow
I am a lecturer at the Institute of Technology Carlow and I am a PhD student in TCD where I am carrying out research into the historical origins of FDI led growth in small economies.
This paper explores the historical context of FDI led policies in the parallel jurisdictions of Southern and Northern Ireland from 1945 to 1960 and to explore the extent of policy transfer between the two economies in relation to inward investment. Drawing on the concepts of Lesson Drawing (Rose, 1991; Hall, 1993), convergence (Bennett,1991) and more recent contributions from Dolowitz and March (1996, 1999), and Dunlop (2009), this paper briefly outlines the origins of FDI and the possibility of policy transfer between the two economies.
What influence did industrial policy in the North play in policy developments in the South? Most of the comparisons between both parts of the Island tend to focus on political issues, which naturally loom large in any analysis about the region. Moreover, there was a lack of formal engage and dialogue between North and South during the years in question, so that there is very little acknowledgement from either side of the border on the role that the other area’s economic policy may have had. An examination of archival research shows that Northern Ireland, prior to EC membership, expressed the concern that its location ‘set it apart in the minds of people whose interests are centred in Great Britain’ (Ministry of Finance, Stormont, 1952). The origins and extent of FDI in Northern Ireland after the Second World War is examined, placing concepts of inward investment within the wider regional development context and within the overall economic climate of the day. The potential for the policy transfer of Northern policies relating to FDI to the inward investment policies of Southern Ireland are then examined. In this way, parallel development within both jurisdictions are explored, and the potential for policy transfer or convergence between the two areas is examined.
The paper contends that epistemic communities (Stone, 2001), and informal networks can play a role in facilitating the transfer of ideas.