Why State Corporations in Developing Countries Have Failed to Attract Foreign Investment

This article examines the behavioural and organisational reasons why the investment promotion materials of state‐owned enterprises in some developing countries are very poor as marketing literature. It gives examples selected from nine LDCs′ publications to illustrate specific ways in which they are inappropriate: by focusing on the enterprise′s own concerns rather than the concerns of potential investors; by acting as a rule enforcer rather than a facilitator for foreign companies; by addressing the wrong audience or learning the wrong lessons from past experiences, etc. The appendix gives suggestions for how the same contents could be presented in more dynamic and attractive language.