Home country employment and foreign direct investment: evidence from the Italian case

The present paper provides further insights on the relationshipbetween home country employment and foreign direct investment(FDI) undertaken by national firms. The unit of analysis iseach ensemble of firms operating in the same industrial sectorand localised in the same geographical region. That allows usto capture both direct and indirect effects of foreign productionon the parent's environment, which arise through the generationof linkages and externalities. Empirical evidence has been providedwith reference to the Italian case in the decade 1985–95.Results suggest that the impact of outward FDI on the labourintensity of domestic production is negative in the case ofvertical investment undertaken—especially by smaller firms—inless developed countries, and positive for horizontal and market-seekinginvestments in advanced countries.     

浅析国际直接投资自由化进程中的中国外资政策

随着全球经济一体化的演进，国际直接投资日趋自由化流动。国际直接投资自由化的兴起在全球经济的增长和国际分工深化的进程中发挥了越来越重要的作用。我国是利用国际直接投资的大国，目前正处于向市场经济转轨的关键时期，经济体制和市场结构还不完善，如何在确保国家经济安全的前提下，推进国际直接投资自由化进程，积极合理地扩大引资规模，应成为人们关注的焦点问题。因此，本文试图探寻国际直接投资自由化的经济机理，总结出国际投资自由化的有效制度安排对现行制度进行调整，以期更好地把握和指导我国改革开放实践及进一步融入国际直接投资自由化进程。     

Economic freedom and bilateral direct investment

Economic freedom (freedom from the intervention of government) is essential for doing business, so economic freedom of both the home country and the host country are important for bilateral foreign direct investment. However, though some literature has investigated the role of host country's economic freedom in bilateral direct investment, no literature has studied the role of home country's economic freedom. This paper has studied this issue in a gravity model with a sample of 155 countries. This paper has also employed some effective estimation techniques of gravity model to incorporate the zero observations and adopted quantile regression method. The findings indicate that economic freedom of both the home country and the host country are positively correlated with bilateral direct investment, and the economic freedom of home country has even stronger explanatory power for foreign direct investment. Hence, promoting the economic freedom may encourage more outward foreign direct investment than inward direct investment.     

外商直接投资对中国对外贸易影响的实证分析

本文以中国和其它24个国家或地区的最近3年的外贸和外资的实际数据为基础,用统计计量学方法对外商直接投资(FDI)和国际贸易关系进行实证研究,定量论证了FDI的贸易促进作用,在此基础上,还对中国与各个国家或地区之间贸易规模差异进行了阐述.     

The effects of transition and political instability on foreign direct investment inflows

This paper examines the effects of transition and of political instability on foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to the transition economies of Central Europe, the Baltics and the Balkans. We find that FDI flows to transition economies unaffected by conflict and political instability exceed those that would be expected for comparable West European countries. Success with stabilization and reform increased the volume of FDI inflows. In the case of Balkan counties, conflict and instability reduced FDI inflows below what one would expect for comparable West European countries, and reform and stabilization failures further reduced FDI to the region. Thus, we find that the economic costs of instability in the Balkans in terms of foregone FDI have been quite high.     

Evidence on corruption as an incentive for foreign direct investment

This paper assesses the relationship between corruption and inward foreign direct investment (FDI). Previous research has presumed that corruption directly enters the cost function of multinationals, suggesting a negative relationship between corruption and FDI. For a sample of 73 developed and less developed countries and the time period 1995–1999, we find a clear positive relationship between corruption and FDI. Corruption is thus a stimulus for FDI.     

The determinants of foreign direct investment into European transition economies

Using a panel dataset of bilateral flows of foreign direct investment (FDI), we study the determinants of FDI from Western countries, mainly in the European Union (EU), to Central and Eastern European ones. We find the most important influences to be unit labor costs, gravity factors, market size, and proximity. Interestingly, host country risk proves not to be a significant determinant. Our empirical work also indicates that announcements about EU Accession proposals have an impact on FDI for the future member countries. Journal of Comparative Economics 32 (4) (2004) 775–787.     

Competition for foreign direct investment: The role of technology and market structure

We analyze the location choice of a multinational corporation (MNC) between two host countries. We consider both passive and active governments and examine the role of production efficiencies, and of market structure, in the MNC's choice. Our findings include: (i) when the domestic firms export, the country with fewer firms always gets the MNC, but the MNC is indifferent between hosts with firms that have different efficiency levels, (ii) when the domestic firms do not export, the country with more firms gets the MNC if they are sufficiently inefficient, and the MNC locates in the country with less efficient firms.     

The importance of clusters for spillovers from foreign direct investment and technology sourcing

This paper examines the link between cluster development andinward foreign direct investment. The conventional policy approachhas been to assume that inward foreign direct investment (FDI)can stimulate significant clustering activity, thus generatingsignificant spillovers. This paper, however, questions thisand shows that, while clusters can generate significant productivityspillovers from FDI, this only occurs in pre-existing clusters.Further, the paper demonstrates that foreign-owned firms thatenter clusters also appropriate spillovers when domestic firmsundertake investment, raising the possibility that clustersare important locations for so called technology, or knowledgesourcing activities by MNEs.     

Externalities from foreign direct investment in the Mexican retailing sector

This contribution to the discussion on the impact of foreigndirect investment in developing countries is based on an empiricalstudy of the consequences of transnational corporations' presencein the Mexican retailing sector, particularly Wal-Mart. First,it is shown that the arrival of foreign firms accelerates themodernisation but has a negative impact on local firms' performanceas well as local worker remuneration as a result of the growingcompetitive pressure in the sector. Second, the changes thatoccurred in supply chain governance and the tremendous increaseof imports initiated by Wal-Mart are described, and some probableimplications for local suppliers are suggested.     

Regional foreign direct investment and technology spillover: evidence across different clusters in India

This paper examines whether there exist productivity spillovers from foreign direct investment (FDI) to domestic firms at the regional level, using firm-level panel dataset covering 22 manufacturing industries in India from 2000 to 2012. In order to estimate the productivity spillovers from FDI at the regional level, we select 10 industrial clusters across 4 regions in India. In estimating productivity, we control for a possible simultaneity bias by using semi-parametric estimation techniques. We find that local firms benefit from horizontal and vertical FDI, but the benefits from the latter are found to be substantially stronger. The absorptive capacity of domestic firms is highly relevant to harvest the spilled technology from foreign-owned firms. Furthermore, we find that domestic firms belonging to high-technology industries benefit more from FDI at the regional level. We also find that market concentration is a crucial conduit for firm innovation, technological upgradation, and having a direct effect on local firm total factor productivity.     

Spillovers from foreign direct investment: Within or between industries?

This paper contributes an estimation framework to measure both technological and linkage externalities from foreign direct investment (FDI). Empirical research dealt mainly with intra-industry spillovers from FDI with restrictive treatment of inter-industry effects until recently. However, as optimal organization of the multinational corporation (MNC) involves minimization of profit losses due to leakage of technical information to competitors, host-country firms within the MNC's sector experience limited productivity gains ensuing FDI. Host-country producers in other sectors may benefit. For example, MNCs transfer knowledge to local downstream clients, or outsource to local upstream suppliers. Hence, FDI substitutes within-sector domestic investment but complements it across sectors. The net impact on aggregate capital formation by host-country producers hinges on the interaction between linkages and spillovers. Estimations based on the Colombian Manufacturing Census yield the sectoral pattern of FDI spillovers displaying knowledge propagation between but not within industries. The findings reveal outsourcing relationships of MNCs with local upstream suppliers as the channel of diffusion.     

我国企业对外直接投资的战略选择

市场全球化使得企业必须重视国内和国外市场上的竞争，特剐是直接投资打入发达国家技术发明中心，跟踪国际新技术发展动态，利用比较优势向发展中国家提供适用性技术，将我国的经济发展置于更广阔的空间，是我国企业在开放经济条件下和剧烈的国际竞争中经营发展的必要选择。对外直接投资、从事跨国经营活动是一个国家加入WTO后经济发展的必然趋势和选择，是适应经济全球化发展的必然要求。本文简略地分析了我国对外直接投资发展的现状，着重探讨了我国企业对外直接投资的战略选择问题。     

Rights,governance, and foreign direct investment: an industry-level assessment

Theories of multinational enterprises emphasize that foreign direct investment (FDI) is undertaken in different industries for different reasons, yet studies of the effects of rights and governance on FDI generally rely on aggregate-level FDI data. This paper evaluates US FDI outflows to 15 industries (eight manufacturing, seven non-manufacturing) in 54 countries in a linear dynamic panel data gravity FDI model using a ‘system’ generalized method of moments estimator and several widely used rights and governance indexes. At the aggregate level, we estimate that stronger rights and governance have a positive effect on FDI, consistent with most prior studies. At the industry level, we estimate larger positive effects of rights and governance on FDI for service than manufacturing industries, particularly for the information and the finance and insurance industries.     

The mediating role of export-oriented Japanese foreign direct investment in China

Since the early 1990s, China has become the largest destination of Japanese foreign direct investment （FDI）. Observing this trend, the authors analyzed whether Japanese FDI did promote exports from China to the rest of the world, and more importantly, whether this is a strategy adopted by Japanese multinationals to penetrate not only the Chinese market but also the global market. This analysis takes into account not only the direct effects of FDI on exports, but also the indirect effects, by examining the mediating role of export oriented Japanese FDI in China from 1998 to 2007 through panel analysis. The study contributes to the conceptual framework of indirect relationship among the macroeconomic variables, FDI and exports provides some insights into the strategy of export oriented Japanese FDI in creating a win-win platform for Japan and China.     

Foreign direct investment in a world of multiple taxes

Governments impose multiple taxes on foreign investors, though studies of the effect of tax policy on the location of foreign direct investment (FDI) focus almost exclusively on corporate income taxes. This paper examines the impact of indirect (non-income) taxes on FDI by American multinational firms, using affiliate-level data that permit the introduction of controls for parent companies and affiliate industries. Indirect tax burdens significantly exceed the foreign income tax obligations of foreign affiliates of American companies. Estimates imply that 10% higher local indirect tax rates are associated with 7.1% lower affiliate assets, which is similar to the effect of 10% higher income tax rates. Affiliate output falls by 2.9% as indirect taxes rise by 10%, while higher income taxes have more modest output effects. High corporate income tax rates depress capital/labor ratios and profit rates of foreign affiliates, whereas high indirect tax rates do not. These patterns reveal the impact of indirect taxes and suggest the mechanisms by which direct and indirect taxes affect FDI.     

Foreign direct investment and bilateral investment treaties: An international political perspective

This paper investigates the effect of the implementation of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) on the bilateral stocks of foreign direct investment (FDI). We argue that the understanding of how BITs affect FDI requires recognizing that multinational enterprises (MNEs) are not Stateless and that their investment return may well depend on the quality of political relations between the home and host countries. Using bilateral FDI data and event data to measure political interactions between countries, we show that the effect of the entry into force of a BIT crucially depends on the quality of political relations between the signatory countries; it increases FDI more between countries with tense relationships than between friendly countries. We also find evidence that BITs and good domestic institutions are complementary. BITs should therefore be understood as a mechanism for host governments to credibly commit not to expropriate investors in the future.     

Foreign direct investment in OECD countries: a special focus in the case of Greece

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is considered as an important instrument for economic development all over the world. The aim of this paper is to examine the FDI inflows determinants for 24 OECD countries. To this end we employ annual data from 1980 to 2012 for a series of potential FDI determinants that have been identified as the most important by the relevant literature. Our empirical strategy employs both the standard fixed effects panel as well as a dynamic panel approach. The empirical findings highlight the importance of market size, trade openness, unit labor cost, schooling, taxation, gross capital formation, institutional variables, and ROA/ROE as significant FDI determinants. In the case of the dynamic panel model those FDI inflows determinants are not uniform for all country groups. Additionally, the results indicate that corporate tax rates clearly affect FDI attractiveness. This finding is robust when testing different countries subgroups. The present study has important policy implications indicating the factors that host economies should place emphasis on in order to attract FDI inflows. Policy makers should not only pay attention to the corporate tax rate level but they should also design a simple, stable and transparent taxation system that minimizes the relevant business risk.     

A welfare analysis of global patent protection in a model with endogenous innovation and foreign direct investment

This paper constructs a North–South quality-ladder model in which foreign direct investment (FDI) is determined by the endogenous location choice of firms, and examines analytically how strengthening patent protection in the South affects welfare in the South. Strengthening patent protection increases the South's welfare by enhancing innovation and FDI, but it also allows the firms with patents to charge higher prices for their goods, which decreases welfare. However, the model shows that the former positive welfare effect outweighs the latter negative effect. Moreover, introducing the strictest form of patent protection in the South, that is, harmonizing patent protection in the South with that in the North, may maximize welfare in the South as well as in the North. Further, a similar result can also be obtained in a nonscale effect model.     

National levels of corruption and foreign direct investment

We model the relationship between bilateral foreign direct investment (FDI) and the level of corruption in multinational firms’ (MCNs’) home and host countries. We construct and test a model of bilateral FDI between countries that differ in their levels of corruption. FDI is affected negatively both by the level of corruption in the host country and by differences in home- and host-country corruption. Our model emphasizes that MNCs develop skills for dealing with home-country corruption, and these skills become a competitive advantage in similarly corrupt host countries. We test the model using data on bilateral FDI stocks among a large number of home and host countries, using a variety of specifications and estimation strategies to provide robustness. Our results show that the effects of host-country corruption and of differences in corruption levels between home and host countries are statistically and economically significant.