Brownfield investment is cross-border investment that acquires or redevelops existing assets — buying a company, a plant or a site already in operation — as opposed to building new capacity. The economic significance differs from greenfield investment: the headline sum may be the same while the effect on output, employment and capacity is not, because in the first instance ownership changes rather than anything new being built. Compilers draw the boundary differently, particularly where an acquisition is followed by substantial new construction on the same site, so figures from different sources are not automatically comparable.
Why this entry carries no source list. This is an analytical concept from economics, not an instrument any body administers. There is no authority to cite because none is needed: the idea is used to reason about trade, not applied by a customs officer to a consignment. Where numbers are involved they come from statistical compilations whose conventions differ, so figures from two sources are not automatically comparable.