Source Country Characteristics and the Inflow of Foreign Direct Investment into Saudi Arabia

The paper examines the impact of source country characteristics on the inflow of FDI into Saudi Arabia using a gravity‐type model including economic, distance and socio‐political variables. A unique database listing all new investments involving foreign ownership is used to construct a panel of 33 countries in the period 1980–2005. To account for many country–year observations with zero FDI, the negative binomial regression, the Tobit regression and the Heckman selection procedure are used. The conclusions drawn from the analysis employing panel‐based techniques differ from the results obtained from pooled regression models. Also, the determinants of FDI differ depending on whether foreign investment is measured in terms of investment expenditure or the number of individual foreign projects. The Heckman selection results reveal that there are a large number of factors affecting the decision to invest in Saudi Arabia, compared with relatively few determinants of the actual size of investment. Traditional size and distance characteristics hold to a great extent but the relationship between FDI and bilateral trade is unclear and there is some evidence that the countries that export to Saudi Arabia do not invest there. In terms of scope for possible spillovers, there is mixed evidence on whether the investment comes from more technologically advanced economies but volume‐wise important investments originate from countries characterised by high income per capita.     

The Role of Geography in Financial and Economic Integration: A Comparative Analysis of Foreign Direct Investment,Trade and Portfolio Investment Flows

The objective of this paper is to examine the role of geography in explaining the patterns of financial and economic integration among both developed and developing countries. Using a gravity model, we compare North‐North, North‐South and South‐North FDI, trade and portfolio investment flows to examine how geographical factors influence these bilateral flows. The results indicate that the impact of geography variables on FDI and portfolio are similar to their effect on trade. Geography variables have a statistically significant effect both on FDI and portfolio investment, but FDI is more sensitive to distance. We interpret the negative effect of distance as the existence of information costs in financial flows. Also bilateral FDI, trade and portfolio investment flows react to macroeconomic fundamentals in the same way, however, with different degrees of sensitivity. There are significant differences between North‐North and North‐South flows. Our results find support for the argument that most FDI among industrial countries are horizontal, whereas most FDI investment in developing countries is vertical. The fact that the significance of geographical variables on financial flows still remained even after controlling for the macroeconomic fundamentals, is in contrast with the standard capital market model. The results can, however, be reconciled if geographical factors can proxy for information costs, which may in turn explain why country portfolios are still home‐biased. The significant effect of distance on financial flows may also explain how idiosyn cratic shocks are spread (i.e. contagion) to other countries in the same region. Ultimately, the geographical location of a country may determine its economic and financial integration into the world economy.     

Governance and Globalisation

Unlike the large literature on ‘democracy and trade’, there is a much smaller literature on the effect of the level of democracy in a nation on the level of its foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow. These few studies reveal mixed empirical results, and surprisingly only one study has examined bilateral FDI flows. Moreover, few of these studies use multiple governance indicators separating the ‘pluralism’ effect of democratic institutions from the ‘good governance’ effect, there are no studies on democratic institutions’ various effects on the level of FDI relative to trade, and there are no studies of democratic institutions’ various effects on the selection of countries into FDI. We focus on three contributions. First, we examine the simultaneous effects of the World Bank's (six) Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGIs) – which allow separating the effects of pluralism from those of five other good governance measures – on bilateral trade, FDI and FDI relative to trade using state‐of‐the‐art gravity specifications. Second, we find strong evidence that – after accounting for host governments’ effectiveness in various roles of good governance – a higher level of pluralism as measured by the WGIs’ Voice and Accountability Index reduces trade levels, likely by increasing the ‘voice’ of more protectionist less‐skilled workers, but not FDI levels. Moreover, we find qualitatively different effects of other WGIs – such as political stability – on trade versus FDI flows. Third, we account for firm heterogeneity alongside a large number of zeros in bilateral FDI flows using recent advances in gravity modelling. We distinguish between the (country) intensive and extensive margins and show that pluralism affects FDI inflows negatively at the intensive margin, but positively at the extensive margin.     

Intensive and extensive margins of exports: What can India learn from China?

We decompose India's export performance in manufactured products during 2000–15 into changes at the intensive and extensive margins. India's performance, along different margins, is compared and contrasted with that of China. The results show that while China outperforms India at both the margins, the gap is particularly wide at the intensive margin. Decomposition of intensive margin along quantity and price margins shows that Chinese products are generally sold cheaper than Indian products. Higher price margin, however, has not translated into high intensive margin for India due to its abysmally low quantity margin. We examine different explanations for China's superior performance relative to India, along different margins, using a gravity model. Our results suggest that China's exchange rate policy was not the prime reason for its export success. Neither do we find that FDI inflows were significant in explaining the export performance gap between them. The results show that China's export relationship bias towards high‐income partner countries holds the key in understanding its superior performance. This bias is a natural consequence of China's high degree of specialization in labor‐intensive activities. India, by contrast, due to an idiosyncratic pattern of specialisation, has failed to exploit its export potential in high income countries.     

Intangibles Trade and MNEs: Supply-Chain Trade in R&D Services and Innovative Subsidiaries

This paper contributes to the literature on vertical specialization in R&D (or ‘R&D fragmentation’) and trade in intermediate services by examining the role of multinational enterprises (MNE) activities associated with bilateral foreign direct investment (FDI). Prior work in production networks (or global value chains [GVCs]) and R&D fragmentation suggests a complementarity relationship between FDI in R&D and technological knowledge flows. The paper examines this proposition empirically for R&D services trade by extending the gravity framework of supply-chain trade for intermediate services with bilateral MNE operations as economic mass variables. The results are partially consistent with the hypothesized complementarity. The econometric strategy accounts for zero trade observations. The latter addresses possible selection and consistency issues of traditional gravity trade specifications, and allows exploring extensive vs. intensive margin of trade. Understanding the role of MNEs in these transactions may be useful for policies aimed at increasing participation and upgrading in MNE-driven GVCs.     

Effects of aid for trade on extensive and intensive margins of greenfield FDI

Using a panel dataset of 105 developing countries for the period 2003–15, this paper assesses the effects of Aid for Trade (AfT) on greenfield FDI flows to the aid‐recipient countries. Particularly, this paper classifies the total dollar value of greenfield FDI flows to each recipient country in terms of four different layers: the extensive and intensive margins of projects as well as the extensive and intensive margins of source countries. Applying the system GMM estimator, this paper finds that AfT not only increases the dollar value of FDI flows to the recipient countries but also helps diversify the greenfield projects and source countries. In addition, this paper finds that AfT has a greater effect for greenfield FDI from donor (developed) countries than from non‐donor (developing) countries. Among the three components of AfT, aid for trade‐related infrastructure and aid for trade policy regulations are found to have positive links with greenfield FDI, irrespective of source‐country groups, yet their effects are larger for developed source countries. In contrast, aid for building productive capacity hinders greenfield FDI flows from non‐donor countries, while it promotes greenfield FDI from donor countries. We offer some explanations for this finding.     

How do country regulations and business environment impact foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows?

How do multinationals choose which countries to invest in? This study addresses the essential question of the impact of regulatory variables in attracting or deterring foreign direct investment (FDI). We separate regulatory variables based on different stages of a firm’s life-cycle. Using World Bank data for 189 economies, we examine which host country regulatory factors influence inward FDI. We find that countries with stronger contract enforcement and more efficient international trade regulations attract more FDI. The interaction terms suggest that multinational companies are willing to trade-off a country's poorer institutional variable in return for another where the institutional variable is stronger. For example, multinationals are willing to invest in countries with less efficient entry and exit regulations in exchange for stronger contract enforcement. These results also have important implications for government policy reform.     

The importance of heterogeneity in determining the effects of preferential trade agreements on Foreign Direct Investment

This paper investigates the importance of PTA formation in attracting inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI). In particular, we examine the heterogeneous effects of different types of PTAs (FTAs or CUs) on the extensive and intensive margins of FDI and on how the interdependence among various PTAs may affect a country's ability to attract FDI inflows. We find that the larger the preferential markets to which a country has access, the larger the FDI inflows the country receives. Furthermore, we find that the type of PTA matters in determining FDI inflows. In this case, we find that the formation of CUs tends to promote more FDI inflows than the formation of FTAs. Our findings also indicate that the formation of PTAs significantly affects FDI through the intensive margin, rather than through the extensive margin. Importantly, notice that these effects are driven by the preferential markets to which a country has access and that have not established a PTA with the FDI-originating (home) country, confirming that PTA interdependence matters in determining FDI inflows.     

The effect of WTO on the extensive and the intensive margins of trade

We use 6-digit bilateral trade data to document the effect of WTO/GATT membership on the extensive and intensive product margins of trade. We construct gravity equations for the two product margins motivated by Chaney (2008). The empirical results show that standard gravity variables provide good explanatory power for bilateral trade on both margins. Importantly, we show that the impact of the WTO is concentrated almost exclusively on the extensive product margin of trade, i.e. trade in goods that were not previously traded. In our preferred specification, WTO membership increases the extensive margin of exports by 25%. At the same time, WTO membership has a negative impact on the intensive margin. Based on novel comparative statics results about how fixed and variable trade costs impact the product margins of trade, our results suggest that WTO membership works by reducing primarily the fixed rather than the variable costs of trade.     

Preference Erosion – The Case of Everything But Arms and Sugar

While the European Union's Everything But Arms (EBA) agreement has granted unlimited preferential access to the European market for the least developed countries (LDCs) since 2001, the sugar sector has been exempted for the first years. Only from 2009 on, the LDCs were entitled to export an unlimited amount of sugar to the EU, receiving the intervention price. The expected increase in sugar imports led the EU to substantially reduce the intervention price, besides other measures. This caused a disadvantage for countries which had been granted preferential access to the European market already: the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries. Our paper quantifies this erosion of preferences, employing a gravity framework. In terms of methodology we are addressing two fundamental problems well known in the gravity literature. The occurrence of excess zeros in the dependent variable of such disaggregated data is tackled with the employment of the scale‐independent negative binomial quasi generalised pseudo maximum likelihood estimator. The problem of identification is addressed by modelling the policy change with the continuous preference margin instead of using dummy variables. We find that preference erosion did occur. The ACP countries were indeed negatively affected by the consequences following the introduction of the EBA.     

Public participation,investment networks,and China's outward FDI: Evidence from 58 countries along the belt and road

We estimate the effect of public participation in host countries on Chinese outward FDI (OFDI) for a panel of 58 countries along the Belt and Road from 2004 to 2019 in a Heckman selection model. Our model captures effects along both, extensive and intensive margins. We find that public participation, and the differences between public participation in home and host countries, significantly affect Chinese OFDI. Effects are sensitive to the presence of access to local investment networks and change after the introduction of the Belt and Road Initiative.     

贸易便利化对中国企业出口二元边际的影响

本文采用中国海关数据库和OECD编制的TFIs指数,从出口企业-目的地层面分析了出口目的地贸易便利化对中国企业出口二元边际的影响。研究显示:目的地贸易便利化的提升对中国企业出口额增长有显著的促进作用,但企业的出口增长是通过缩小出口产品种类数(扩展边际)、扩大产品平均出口额(集约边际)实现的。拓展分析表明:随着目的地贸易便利化水平的提升,小企业和加工贸易企业会更多地缩小出口产品种类;低收入经济体贸易便利化提升对中国企业出口扩展边际的消极影响更大。据此,企业应专业化、规模化地生产有比较优势的产品,不断提升自身生产率,积极应对贸易便利化带来的机遇和挑战。     

Modes of Foreign Direct Investment and Patterns of Trade: An Alternative Empirical Approach

Modes of FDI can be clarified by analysing the changing patterns of trade among host, home and third countries. However, most empirical experiments of foreign direct investment (FDI) determinants have been confined to general characteristics of host countries and multinational enterprises' outward investment activities. This may not clearly characterise the specific characteristics of inward FDI in regard to the host country. Thus, we introduce an alternative approach to clarify modes of FDI by investigating the link between patterns of trade and inward FDI. To empirically test whether our approach is applicable, we choose China during the period 1998–2007. We construct a modified gravity equation of bilateral trade while considering spatially lagged interdependence between host, home and third countries. The problem of endogeneity is controlled by applying the system generalised method of moments (GMM) estimation technique. Our findings are consistent with results in existing studies on modes of outward FDI to China and prove that our approach in dealing with the link between patterns of trade and inward FDI has wide applicability to all modes of FDI. We discover there is strong evidence for statistically significant complementarity between bilateral trade and inward FDI within the aggregate trade data. As we decompose the aggregate trade data into final and intermediate goods, we find the motivation concerning export‐platform and complex vertical FDI is very significant. In addition, as we separate the bilateral partners into developing partners and developed partners, we find both bilateral and multilateral linkages are much stronger with developing partners.     

Technical Efficiency and Location Choice of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

We establish a theoretical model to explain the relationship between the regional technical efficiencies and production location choice. A higher regional technical efficiency level attracts foreign direct investment (FDI) and offsets the adverse effects of a high wage rate and setup cost. Data from Taiwan's SMEs during the period 1989–1996 are collected. Observations are classified into three exclusive and exhaustive groups: SMEs without FDI, SMEs with FDI in mainland China, and SMEs with FDI in other countries. We then apply the multi-logit model to test the relationship between the technical efficiency and FDI location choice. Taiwan's SMEs with higher technical efficiencies are less likely to invest in mainland China. Technical efficiencies do not significantly influence the location choice between Taiwan and other countries. The wage rate is a significant motive for SMEs to invest internationally, while the setup cost is not an important factor to affect firms' location choices.     

Infrastructure or foreign direct investment?: An examination of the implications of MNE strategy for economic development

This paper explores the paradoxical relationship between MNE current strategies and economic development. There is evidence that positive developmental impacts of FDI flows are conditional on high levels of human capital and thus on the existence of ‘good’ infrastructure in recipient countries. In this paper we suggest that current MNE strategies have a negative impact on the development of infrastructure in LDCs. The justification for this argument arises from the low developmental impact of current FDI patterns and from rising costs of attracting increasingly footloose investment. The overall effect is to aggravate government financial constraints on the development of basic infrastructure. We develop propositions for future empirical research. We also consider implications for MNE strategy and argue that current MNE strategies are not only ineffective for delivering poverty reduction but that current strategies in developing countries do not necessarily serve the interest of MNEs either.     

Intellectual Property Rights,FDI, R&D and Economic Growth: A Cross‐country Empirical Analysis

This paper aims to empirically examine how intellectual property rights (IPRs) protection, foreign direct investment (FDI) and research and development (R&D), along with other possible variables, may affect the economic growth of the host country. Using the panel data of 92 countries during 1970–2007, I conclude from the system generalised method of moments estimation that domestic investment share, FDI, R&D capacity, openness to trade, human capital and IPRs protection all have statistically significant and positive impacts on economic growth. A further investigation of countries at different levels of development suggests two striking findings. First, besides the domestic investment, openness, human capital and IPRs protection, R&D is the key to drive economic growth in the higher‐income countries, while FDI is the engine of growth in both higher‐income and middle‐income countries. Second, a positive and significant impact of IPRs protection on economic growth is found in both higher‐income and lower‐income countries. However, such an impact is not detected in the middle‐income countries.     

Multinational activity of European firms and heterogeneity

This paper offers an empirical assessment of the multinational activity of European firms. It takes the predictions of models of firm heterogeneity and FDI activity as a reference to explore the characteristics of multinational firms from 30 European countries. We use a data set, based on ORBIS, which links information of parent–affiliate pairs of firms. Our results show that more productive firms have greater multinational activity in terms of both scope, the number of foreign markets where they invest, and scale, the volume of local sales by subsidiaries active in foreign markets. The estimation of gravity equations shows that country characteristics that encourage multinational activity successively induce the entry of less productive parent firms. We confirm this asymmetry for the GDPs of the home and host countries, distance, contiguity and other standard gravity equation variables.     

Performance feedback and location choice of foreign direct investment

Integrating the behavioral theory of the firm and the OLI paradigm, this paper studies how performance feedback affects the location choice of emerging market firms between developed countries (DCs) and less developed countries (LDCs) during the process of internationalization. Using the sample of 1,306 Chinese public listed firms which established new foreign subsidiaries between 2008 and 2019, we find that the further a firm’s performance is below aspiration, the more likely it will invest in LDCs than DCs, whereas the further a firm’s performance is above aspiration, the more likely it will invest in DCs than LDCs. In addition, technology-based capability and labor intensive production capability have moderating effects on the relationship between performance feedback and location choice between DCs and LDCs. This paper complements and extends the OLI paradigm by injecting dynamic and non-economic factors to explain OFDI location choice.     

Does distance matter in foreign direct investment sub-national location choice? Evidence from China

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) make investment decisions according to the distance factors at a sub-national level. This paper made estimates using the gravity model with provincial foreign direct investment (FDI) data from 2000 to 2012 and employed three concepts of distance. Our empirical results indicate that geographic distance and cultural distance have significant negative effects on FDI flow, whereas economic distance has a significant positive effect. It suggests that FDI prefers to locate in regions that are geographically and culturally close but economically distant from the home country, which further implies that FDI in China is dominated by vertical FDI. Our findings suggest that Chinese provincial governments should place emphasis on attracting FDI from culturally close countries and provide institutional support to encourage and promote horizontal FDI.     

Effects of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership on Tunisian FDI Inflows

This article focuses on the effect of regional integration agreements (RIA) on foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to developing countries, particularly on the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement signed by the Tunisian government in 1995. The econometric study is based on an extended gravity model treated with the Heckman technique to account for censorship of the explained variable. The main findings are that traditional economic determinants are still the main motivation for foreign investors to invest in Tunisia and that the regional integration process had no effect on this choice.