Inward investment and Scottish devolution : towards a balanced view

This paper analyses the various issues relating to inward investment in Scotland upon which devolution, as currently proposed, might exert some influence. It does not speculate on whether independence for Scotland would follow or what impact that might have. Within all the potential business effects, the coverage here is confined to inward investment in view of its scale, mobility, international orientation, the role it plays within the Scottish economy and the choices which such companies can exercise on locations. Within that group of companies, the focus is mainly on manufacturing investment. It is written from a neutral political perspective and concentrates on bringing a balanced judgement to the whole question based on many years of both academic research and practical experience in this field. Its conclusions cannot be regarded as definitive; at best they could, however, be regarded as reasonably well-informed. It is recognised that there are many aspects of the potential impact of devolution on corporate competitive positions and on their decision processes which are extremely difficult to forecast at this stage