Tying the Firm to the Region or Tying the Region to the Firm?

Abstract

In 1996 the Korean conglomerate LG announced plans to create up to 6100 jobs at a new greenfield electronics manufacturing operation in Newport, South Wales. The investment would have been unthinkable without the unique institutional capacity involved with inward investment attraction and development which exists in Wales. However, the scale of the LG investment has placed enormous demands on this institutional capacity and raises questions regarding the way in which major investments effectively capture the strategic orientation and resources of local institutions and serviceproviding organizations. In this article we explore some of the main dimensions of such institutional capture as revealed by an initial examination of the LG case.