I’m just back from presenting to the leaders at the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE). This is the preeminent group for studying the economic, financial, foreign direct investment, and investment infrastructure in Cuba. Since Cuba has a unique economy, it provides multiple opportunities to study the affect of policy actions, business, market entry, and comparative economics. Papers presented to this group must be peer reviewed to be eligible to present. Presenters provide their papers and presentations in advance to an expert panel of “discussants” and the discussants review and comment on the research in front of the audience. In my case, the discussants included senior executives from the World Bank and the US Department of Commerce. “Success Characteristics of Foreign Direct Investment” was very well received with only one suggestions, which was to change the paper’s title from foreign direct investment to market entry, which I thought was a good suggestion. By changing the title, I can also add multiple versions, talking about human capital, banking, taxation, and so forth.
For anyone interested in doing business in Cuba, this is a not-to-be-missed conference! Check out the conference at their website: www.ascecuba.org. I highly recommend it!
