Scope: Clark Kebodeaux: 2019 Confucius Institute Faculty International Travel Grant

Faculty Grant Research Proposal: Between capital and community: the role of location brokers in shaping China’s landscape of economic development The planned research in China examines the role of location consultants in shaping the landscape of economic development. The professionals that broker between transnational firms and the communities seeking to attract their investment have received only limited academic attention. The goal for the Spring 2020 research project is to is to make significant further progress on a collaborative project with Professor Nicholas Phelps (Architecture, Building & Planning, University of Melbourne, Australia) that examines the role of location consultants. Using Melbourne as a base Nick, Julie Miao (also ABP, Melbourne) and I plan to conduct three research visits to China. Their purpose is to enable interviews with individuals at agencies seeking to attract foreign direct investment and with the China-based professional consultants advising foreign firms on where to make those investments. The research builds on work reported in two recent papers (Phelps and Wood 1018a and 2018b). Analysis of the research results from the interviews will generate academic articles explicitly addressing investment in China and will be targeted at high quality, peer-reviewed academic journals