Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Growth in EP and IS Countries: The Role of Corruption

Corruption is understood as an act in which the power of public office is used for personal gain in a manner that contravenes the rules established by the governing structures of a society. This study attempts to offer an extension to the empirical model employed by Balasubramanyam et al. (1996 ) by analysing how FDI determines economic growth within the new growth theory framework when the degree of corruption is considered. Thus, the study seeks to examine the way in which corruption can have an impact on the economic growth of developing countries whose trade strategies differ (either IS and EP). It suggests that further insight can be gained by considering how corruption might interact with the trade policy in affecting economic growth. This is examined using a fixed‐effects, simultaneous equation model for 17 countries over the period 1994–2004. The results show that the level of corruption strongly and negatively influences foreign direct investment in both IS and EP countries. However, when the corruption index is interacted with domestic investment, the influence on foreign direct investment is positive and significant for IS countries only. The most interesting outcome of the study is the effect of the interaction term between foreign direct investment and the corruption perception index on economic growth, which is found to be greater in magnitude for the EP countries than for the IS countries.     

Trade,investment, and labor: The case of Indonesia

Rapid industrialization and urbanization spurred on by a surge in foreign investment is often considered typical of newly industrializing countries (NICs). But in Indonesia, the combination of late development and an authoritarian state has created a particularly potent mix, one that has raised more questions than usual about the effects of growth, trade, and investment on labor conditions and local standards of living. The basic motives of foreign direct investment (FDI) are said to create a pattern that is inherently ripe for exploitation, since the capital, technology and market access all rest with the foreign investor. The author uses the Indonesian case to explore factors that might reduce exploitation. While conceding that foreign investment is likely to affect labor conditions in the host economy, especially in times of rapid growth, she cautions against presuming that the consequences will be mainly negative with respect to the living standards and basic human rights of the local population.     

外商直接投资对经济增长的影响分析

近年来,外商直接投资作为国际化经济的显著特征之一日益发展。它作为外资企业谋求经济利益的主要经济活动之一,与贸易并行的国际经济活动的一部分。以中国、巴基斯坦及日本为例,利用宏观经济数据,用计量经济模型,定量比较分析外商直接投资对经济增长的影响。结果表明:外商直接投资与贸易、人力资本等因素促进中国和巴基斯坦的经济增长,但是促进效果不同。     

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.     

Trade openness,foreign direct investment,and finance-growth nexus in the Eurozone countries

The paper investigates causal relationships between trade openness, foreign direct investment, financial development, and economic growth in 19 Eurozone countries over the period 1988–2013. Using a panel vector error-correction model (VECM), the empirical results show that these variables are cointegrated. The study shows that a combination of opening the Eurozone countries for trade and fostering their financial and economic development have elevated inflows of foreign direct investment into the region in the long run. At the same time, increasing inflows of foreign direct investment in the short run have propelled economic growth, which in return has strengthened the role of financial development and international trade to sustain economic growth in the region through feedback effects. The empirical results have important policy implications for countries in the Eurozone, especially those who face challenges as a result of lack of confidence in their financial system and those who face a sovereign debt crisis.     

Trade Protection During the Crisis: Does it Deter Foreign Direct Investment?

This paper looks empirically at the implications that protectionist measures implemented during the current crisis may have had for a country’s ability to attract foreign direct investment. The research utilises data on such measures that are available from Global Trade Alert, combined with bilateral FDI data between OECD countries and a large number of partner countries for 2006 to 2009. This allows us to examine the short‐run effect that protectionist measures may have had on bilateral FDI flows. The verdict from this analysis is clear: a country that implements new protectionist measures may expect that this may result in lower foreign direct investment inflows into the economy. The point estimates from our preferred specifications suggest that, depending on the empirical model, the implementation of a trade protection measure is associated with about 40 to 80 per cent lower FDI inflows. Trade protection does not appear to have any implications for the country’s FDI outflows, however. The negative effect on FDI inflows does not appear to be due to direct investment measures but rather to actions related to intellectual property rights protection and other more trade‐related measures.     

Financial globalisation and the labour share in developing countries: The type of capital matters

In this paper, we investigate how de facto financial globalisation has influenced the labour share in developing countries. Our main argument is the need to distinguish between different types of capital in this context as they differ in their effect on the host countries' production process and vary concerning their bargaining power vis-à-vis labour. Our econometric analysis of the impact of foreign direct versus portfolio investment in a sample of about 40 developing and transition countries after 1992 supports this claim. Using different panel data techniques to address potential endogeneity problems, we find that foreign direct investment has a positive effect on the labour share in developing countries, while the impact of portfolio investment is significantly smaller and potentially negative. Our results also highlight that de facto foreign investment cannot explain the decline of the labour share in developing countries over the investigated period.     

Does and How Does Globalisation Matter at the Industry Level?

In this paper we develop a concept of globalisation at the micro level defined as the exposure of a productivity follower industry in one country to the productivity leader in another country. Globalisation is measured by the intensity of contacts through trade and foreign direct investment. In a simple model and empirically we show that the exposure of a productivity follower to competition with the leader is highly correlated with the productivity gap of this industry. Competition restricted to one region such as Europe, or North America, or the Far East, is not sufficient to achieve highest productivity levels. Moreover, it turns out that foreign direct investment (FDI) has a weight in the globalisation index at least equal to trade. FDI can contribute directly to higher levels of domestic productivity by transferring the best production practices, and put pressure on other domestic producers to improve. The impact of trade on globalisation can be weakened by tariffs and non‐tariffs.     

Does Globalisation Affect Crime? Theory and Evidence

Globalisation sceptics argue that trade liberalisation has high social costs, including an increase in expropriative behaviour such as civil conflict, coercion of labour and crime. We show that a theoretical relationship between trade and expropriation exists, but the sign differs for developed and developing economies. We verify this empirically using data on crime rates. Specifically, we find that trade liberalisation, as measured by both higher openness and lower import duty rates, tends to increase burglaries and theft in very labour‐abundant countries. For other countries, however, we find that trade liberalisation has either a small negative effect on crime or no effect, depending on the country's capital abundance.     

Does the Quality of Investment Protection Affect FDI Flows to Developing Countries? Evidence from Latin America

Studies on the impact of international investment agreements (IIAs), including bilateral investment treaties (BITs), on foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows have been inconclusive. This paper contributes to the debate about the effectiveness of IIAs using an original database that differentiates between investment agreements according to the quality of investor protection, and which covers a wide variety of trade and investment agreements signed and ratified in the Americas. We find evidence that in the least likely case of south–south FDI flows, high‐quality international investment treaties have a demonstrable effect on foreign direct investment inflows. Moreover, international investment agreements appear to be most effective in a context of deeper economic integration. That is, they work better when they provide higher quality protection to investors and when they are combined with other preferential economic integration agreements, such as trade agreements.     

服务贸易视角下中日韩贸易竞争与互补分析

作为东亚地区经济发展的核心,中日韩三国服务贸易的发展一直备受关注。日本服务贸易的竞争力水平是中日韩三国中最强的,其次是中国,最后是韩国。中国具有竞争力的行业主要是建筑、电信、计算机和信息以及其他商业服务,韩国具有竞争力的行业主要是旅游和建筑服务,日本具有竞争力的行业主要是运输、建筑、专业权利和特许服务以及政府服务。进一步对中日韩服务贸易的影响因素进行分析发现:人均国内生产总值、外商直接投资、货物贸易出口额和服务贸易开放水平与中日韩服务贸易竞争力水平都呈显著正相关关系,其中,服务贸易开放度水平对中日韩服务贸易竞争力水平的影响最大,外商直接投资对中日韩服务贸易竞争力水平的影响最小。     

Development Path of China and India and the Challenges for their Sustainable Growth

The segmentation of global manufacturing and services provided China and subsequently India with a golden opportunity to make full use of their absolute advantage – low‐cost, yet educated labour – to integrate into the world economy within a comparatively shorter period of time than some earlier industrialisers. Though international trade functioned as a vent of surplus in view of the narrowness of their domestic markets at the beginning of their economic catch‐up, the label of export‐led model may not reflect the real picture as imports underwent dramatic increases during their respective growth periods, in particular for China. Foreign direct investment has played a pivotal role in their economic growth and has major presence in international trade and investment in leading sectors of both countries, giving rise to certain special features and weak links for their economic expansion and sustainability of fast economic growth. To maintain more broad‐based, fast and balanced growth, it seems that both countries have to redress sectoral imbalances, encourage technology upgrading and cope with future changes in demographic profiles which constituted a trigger to fast economic growth at the time of their respective economic reform.     

中印构建自由贸易区的经济效应分析

中印构建自由贸易区会产生贸易集聚效应、规模经济效应、资源优化配置效应、相互直接投资效应和区域经济发展效应等正经济效应;同时也存在一些负经济效应,如,中国将面临一定的税收损失、印度产品会对中国市场造成一定的冲击以及印度在吸引外商直接投资上会与中国展开竞争等。但总体上中印构建自由贸易区对两国来讲是利大于弊的。     

Beyond Border Barriers: The Liberalisation of Services Trade in Tunisia and Egypt

Tunisia and Egypt have both recently undertaken significant steps toward trade reform. They have committed to a partnership agreement with the European Union. Both countries have also joined the WTO and are participating in Doha Round discussions on the liberalisation of non‐tariff barriers on both goods and services trade. These developments provide an interesting context within which to investigate not only the changes in welfare associated with reforms affecting the trade in goods, but also the impacts of services liberalisation. Using open‐economy computable general equilibrium models for both Tunisia and Egypt, this paper explores the reasons why structural differences in these two economies imply different opportunities and challenges with trade reform and services liberalisation. The gains from eliminating barriers at the border for goods trade are significantly greater for Tunisia than Egypt. Both countries, however, gain substantially from liberalisation of foreign direct investment in services. Furthermore, economic growth is more evenly distributed across sectors than with liberalisation of trade in goods alone. In addition to reporting on the impact of alternative policies on income, output, employment and trade, sector‐level effects are also considered.     

Greenfield FDI,cross-border M&As,and government size

This study examines the effects of greenfield foreign direct investment (FDI) and cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) on government size in host countries of FDI. Using panel data for up to 130 countries for the period from 2003 to 2011, the study specifically tests the compensation hypothesis, suggesting that by increasing economic insecurity, economic openness leads to larger government size. It is found that greenfield FDI increases labour market volatility and thereby economic insecurity while M&As are not significantly associated with labour market volatility. The main results of this study are that greenfield FDI has a robust positive effect on government size, while M&As have no statistically significant effect on government size in the total sample of developed and developing countries, as well as in the sub-samples of developed and developing countries.     

海外对中国内地贸易与直接投资的相互关系

国际贸易和国际直接投资是一国企业进入海外市场的两种主要策略,随着世界经济日益开放和紧密联系,这两种策略之间的联系也日益重要。鉴于美国、日本、香港地区、新加坡在中国内地对外贸易和吸收直接投资中占有很大比重,我们在相关理论陈述的基础上,运用SPSS统计软件,对这四个国家(地区)与中国内地的进出口贸易和直接投资的关系进行了相关分析与回归分析。分析发现,除香港地区外,这些国家对内地贸易与直接投资之间基本上是正向相关的,两者之间互补的情形比替代情形更为普遍,由此我们提出了一些政策建议。     

福建省FDI、对外贸易与经济增长关系的实证研究

福建省利用外资和对外贸易位居全国前列,对推动经济增长起到了重要作用。本文根据1981-2006年福建省统计数据,运用协整检验和误差修正模型,对福建省FDI流入、对外贸易与经济增长关系进行实证研究。结果表明,从长期看,福建省FDI、对外贸易与经济增长之间存在长期均衡关系,FDI、出口和进口明显促进了经济增长。从短期看,FDI、对外贸易与经济增长的长期均衡水平产生了偏离,但偏离误差修正的速度较快。最后,就福建外商直接投资、对外贸易和经济增长协调发展提出了若干政策建议。     

Comprehending the outward FDI from Latin America and OCED: A comparative perspective

This study examines the determinants of outward foreign direct investment (FDI) from Latin American countries and compares it with their OECD counterparts. Our analysis is based on a sample of 45 countries, 13 from Latin America and 32 from the OECD, over the period 2001–2012. We find that the outward FDI from Latin America is more likely to be located in geographically proximate countries and in countries with similar culture and language than that from their OECD counterparts. We also show that Latin American outward FDI is less likely to be resource seeking. This presumably reflects the rich natural resource endowments and agricultural potential in major Latin American countries. Further, outward FDI from Latin America is more likely to be concentrated in countries with a similar corruption environment than that from their OECD counterparts. This might indicate a broadly similar nature of corruption across Latin America due to shared cultural, political and economic legacies.     

中国与日、韩、俄经贸关系对经济的贡献比较

本文分析了中国与日、韩、俄三国之间外贸依存度对相关国家经济的贡献程度,并运用贸易乘数比较了双边贸易对相关国家经济的贡献度(贸易所得);从(直接)投资依存度的角度分析了中国与三国间相互投资对经济的贡献程度,并运用投资收益率比较了相互投资对相关国家经济的贡献度(投资所得);综合贸易所得和投资所得,估算了双边经贸关系对相关国家经济的贡献度;最后,就如何深化中国与三国的经贸关系进行了若干思考。     

Is FTA/EPA effective for a developing country to attract FDI? The knowledge‐capital model revisited

To prepare an answer to the question of how a developing country can attract foreign direct investment (FDI), this paper explored the factors and policies that may help bring FDI into a developing country by utilising an extended version of the knowledge‐capital model. With a special focus on the effects of a free trade agreement (FTA) or an economic partnership agreement (EPA) between a pair of market and non‐market countries, simulations with the model revealed the following: (i) although FTA/EPA generally tends to increase FDI to a developing country, the possibility of improving welfare through increased demand for skilled and unskilled labour decreases as the size of the country grows; (ii) a developing country may suffer severe welfare losses through FTA/EPA if the availability of skilled labour is extremely limited; and (iii) a developing country can enhance welfare gains from a FTA, and it is even possible to recover the welfare effects from negative to positive, by making the arrangement an EPA.