The impact of electricity prices on foreign direct investment: evidence from the European Union

We examine the impact of electricity price variation on net FDI (%GDP) inflows in countries of the European Union. We use panel data of 27 EU countries for a period of 2003 – 2013. We show that electricity prices of south-western and north-eastern EU countries did not converge to one price until now. Dynamic panel data analysis using system GMM shows that besides unit labour costs, tax rates and competitive disadvantage in secondary education, also higher electricity prices reduce countries’ ability to attract FDI. The immediate effects are statistically significant across both sub-regions analysed: in the short run, a 10% increase in electricity prices leads to a decrease in net FDI inflows as a share of GDP by 0.4 percentage points for the south-western and 0.33 for the north-eastern region. In the long run, the response is 0.60 percentage points for south-western and 0.48 for north-eastern regions. Policies should aim at reducing electricity market price differences on the European level through investment in transborder transmission capacity; reductions in FDI, when environmental policy increases after-tax electricity prices, should be countered by other tax reductions as well as harmonization of property rights, absence of corruption and labour market regulations at best-practice level.     

National borders and international trade: evidence from the European Union

In this paper the impact of national borders on international trade within the European Union is considered. Using a gravity model, I find that, averaged over all EU countries, intranational trade is about ten times as high as international trade with an EU partner country of similar size and distance. This relatively strong home bias suggests that even within the European Union national borders still have a decisive impact on trade patterns. JEL Classification: F02, F14, F15, O52
Ce mémoire examine l'impact des frontières nationales sur le commerce international à l'intérieur de l'Union européenne. On montre que, en moyenne pour tous les pays de l'Union européenne, le commerce intranational est à peu près dix fois plus important que le commerce international avec un pays partenaire de l'Union européenne de même taille et à même distance. Ce degré relativement important de préférence nationale suggère que, même dans le cadre de l'Union européenne, les frontières nationales ont encore un impact déterminant sur les patterns de commerce.     

Foreign direct investment,international trade,and firm heterogeneity

We present an asymmetric model with firm heterogeneity and foreign direct investment (FDI) from a developed country to a developing country. We found that the successful entry firms could be sorted from highest to lowest according to productivity as reimport firms, FDI firms, export firms, and domestic firms. We also found that FDI decreases (increases) the gross national income of the developed (developing) country, but it can either increase or decrease the world income according to the level of the relative propensity to spend. In addition, we demonstrated that FDI influences welfare through variations in average price, national income, and the number of types of goods.     

Foreign direct investment and domestic investment in the host country: evidence from panel study

This article examines the impact of inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on host countries’ domestic investment. Utilizing data from 50 countries over the period of 1970 to 2004, we find that inward FDI has a negative contemporaneous effect on domestic investment, while the cumulative effect of FDI over time tends to be positive. In addition, we separately study FDI in Developed Countries (DCs) and Less Developed Countries (LDCs). The effect of contemporaneous FDI on domestic investment is negative in DCs, and the cumulative effect of FDI is neutral. Strong evidence suggests that the contemporaneous effect of FDI on domestic investment is neutral in LDCs, while the cumulative effect of FDI is positive.     

Foreign direct investment and international trade in a continuum Ricardian trade model

We develop a continuum Ricardian trade model to capture both North–South trade and technology transfer via foreign direct investment (FDI) by multinational enterprises (MNEs). We show that there is a unique range of products produced in the South by MNEs. In the case of an infinitely elastic supply of expatriates, if the ability of Southern workers in absorbing Northern technology increases, then (a) the range of MNE production increases, (b) Northern workers's welfare and Southern workers' welfare change in opposite directions, and (c) the world aggregate welfare increases under certain conditions. We explore issues such as North–South wage gaps, FDI policies and the product cycle. We also derive results under a general supply of expatriates.     

Foreign direct investment,economic freedom and economic growth: International evidence

In this paper, we investigate the systemic link between economic freedom, foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic growth in a panel of 85 countries. Our empirical results, based on the generalized method-of-moment system estimator, reveal that FDI by itself has no direct (positive) effect on output growth. Instead, the effect of FDI is contingent on the level of economic freedom in the host countries. This means the countries promote greater freedom of economic activities gain significantly from the presence of multinational corporations (MNCs).     

Foreign direct investment and economic performance in transition economies: evidence from China

Based upon a production function with FDI representing updated technology from more developed, market‐based economies, this study tests the hypothesis that FDI contributes to the economic growth of less developed, transition economies via technology updating, using data for 30 Chinese provinces from 1985 to 2000. It is found that provinces with a higher FDI ratio experienced faster technology updating and more rapid economic growth. The study suggests that less developed, transition economies should encourage FDI from more developed, market‐based economies so as to accelerate technology updating and economic growth.     

Foreign ownership and investment: evidence from Korea

This study examines whether an increase in foreign ownership affects investment in Korea. Many studies have shown that in an imperfect financial market, a firm's investment depends on the availability of internal funds. If high foreigners’ shareholding is a sign of a firm's good financial position, and if foreign investors demand better corporate governance to protect their investments, then cash-flow sensitivity of investment decreases with the level of foreign ownership. Using data from Korean firms, it is found that cash-flow sensitivity of investment is lower in firms with high foreign ownership than in those with low foreign ownership. This finding is regarded as evidence for a potential benefit of open financial markets.     

Foreign direct investment and its impact on real wages: evidence from Turkish micro-level data

This paper analyzes the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) on wages, using Turkish firm-level data from 2003 to 2010, a period which coincides with significant FDI inflows both in manufacturing and service sector firms in the region. We explore the possibility of increased foreign presence translating into shifts in either labor demand or supply curves thereby resulting in changing the total wage bill or wage per worker in the host country. To empirically test this relationship we employ a dynamic specification of the wage equation. After addressing endogeneity concerns, the results reveal that foreign presence measured in terms of intra- and inter-sectoral linkages is related to higher wage bills in the host economy, hence strengthening the argument for attracting greater foreign investment to enhance labor welfare.     

Foreign direct investment and business cycle co-movements: The panel data evidence

The previous literature has largely overlooked the possible channels through which foreign direct investment (FDI) might influence business cycle synchronization. In this study we analyze the linkages that exist among FDI, trade and industrial dissimilarity in relation to business cycle co-movements using a panel data set taken from 77 pairs of developed countries. The error component three-stage least squares (EC3SLS) estimates from a simultaneous equations model with panel data are shown to be superior to the estimates obtained from single equation models or simultaneous equations models with cross-sectional data. Our results indicate that FDI serves as a channel of international business cycle transmission that is equally important as the channels of trade and monetary policy. On the contrary, industrial dissimilarity is identified as having an indirect impact on the business cycle correlation through trade and FDI. Furthermore, our findings suggest that in our sample FDI is of the horizontal type and tends to substitute for trade.     

Foreign direct investment and institutional reform: evidence and an application to Portugal

We examine the role of geographic, economic, and institutional factors in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Europe, using a cross-section of inward bilateral investments. We estimate and assess the expected benefits, the required reform efforts, and the efficiency of reform options corresponding to a convergence of Portuguese institutions to EU standards. We conclude that improving home institutions is likely to have a quantitatively very significant role in attracting FDI. Geographical and market size factors also play a role. Reforms promoting the independence of financial institutions and a leaner bureaucracy, lowering political risk and corruption, and improving the investment code may significantly affect the amount of bilateral inward FDI that is targeted to Portugal.     

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.     

Foreign direct investment in the UK: evidence from a disaggregated panel of the UK food sector

Most empirical studies of foreign direct investment (FDI) typically use either a cross-sectional (capturing ownership-specific and industry determinants) or time-series (capturing the determinants of FDI over time) approach. Panel data techniques, however, have the advantage of combining both aspects of the data. Using disaggregated panel data for the UK food sector – a leading recipient of FDI in the UK – the results in this paper highlight the predominance of ownership-specific and industry characteristics in determining the presence of foreign-owned firms in this sector while macro-economic factors have a more marginal effect.     

Foreign direct investment,heterogeneous workers and employment security: Evidence from Germany

We analyze how foreign direct investment (FDI) affects employment security using administrative microdata for German employees. Measuring FDI intensity at the industry level enables us to take into account the sum of direct effects at multinationals as well as indirect effects of FDI throughout the affected industry. We find that both inward and outward FDI significantly reduce employment security. This is particularly the case for inward FDI coming from the western part of the European Union as well as for outward FDI going to Central and Eastern Europe. The effects are sizeable for older and low‐skilled workers.     

Incentive regulation and investment: evidence from European energy utilities

This paper investigates the relationship between investment and regulatory regimes (incentive vs. rate-of-return regulation) for a sample of EU energy utilities from 1997 to 2007. We control for the effect of firm ownership and for cross-country differences in the underlying energy demand and energy supply. To deal with potential endogeneity of the regulatory regime, we apply instrumental variable methods (2SLS and GMM). Our results show that investment rate is higher under incentive regulation than under rate of return regulation. Using original data on the regulatory tools (X factor and WACC), we find that investment of incentive regulated firms appears highly sensitive to the X factor, consistent with efficiency- and profit-seeking motivations. Electric utilities investment is also sensitive to the level and change in the weighted average cost of capital (WACC). Finally, we find that the positive relationship between private control and investment is not robust to IV estimations, suggesting that in Europe regulation may have reduced the differences between private and public firms’ incentives to invest.     

Foreign direct investment and vertical integration of production by Japanese multinationals in Thailand

We test the vertical model of foreign direct investment (FDI) empirically using firm level information on Japanese multinational activity in Thailand. These data allow us to investigate the effects of both home country (Japan) and host country (Thailand) characteristics on the inter-industry pattern of FDI. For 85 manufacturing industries over the period from 1985 to 1995, we find a positive influence of industry variation in skill intensity and market size in the host country and a negative effect of transport costs on the amount of FDI. These results provide strong direct econometric evidence of vertical integration of production across the countries. Journal of Comparative Economics 32 (4) (2004) 805–821.     

R&D,export and investment decision: evidence from European firms

This article provides an empirical investigation of the mechanism through which R&D influences export and tangible investment decisions. The analysis is based on a large representative and cross-country comparative sample of manufacturing firms across seven European countries. The novelty of this work lies in the three aspects. First, we expand the results on the R&D–export and R&D–investment relationships to a wide sample of cross-European firms. This differentiates from previous works based on single-country samples. Second, to the best of our knowledge, this study is the first in years which assess empirically the relationship between R&D and tangible investment at the micro level. Third, we control for endogeneity of R&D and simultaneity in firms’ decision whether to export and carry out tangible investment. The results of the analysis suggest that R&D positively affects export propensity and tangible investment. The results also reveal that neglecting endogeneity and simultaneity issues leads to underestimate the effect of R&D to both export and investment propensities.     

Re‐entering Europe: Does European Union candidacy boost foreign direct investment?

This study examines the ability of the Central and Eastern European countries to attract foreign direct investment during the first decade of transition. After considering a model of profit maximizing firms, we undertake an empirical investigation of the factors that determine multinational firms’ location decisions within Europe. We find empirical support for the traditional market size and cost factors. In addition, we examine the effect of key European Union announcements regarding the accession process. Results indicate that the announcements had statistically significant and quantitatively important effects on foreign direct investment in the Central and Eastern European candidate countries.     

Efficiency and formation of expectations: evidence from the European investment survey

The European Commission conducts an annual survey regarding planned and realized business fixed investment across various manufacturing sectors in Euroland. In this study we investigate the predictive content of survey-based expectations on investment. In addition, we empirically test the rationality of respondents both in a time series as well as in a panel context. According to our results, based on pooling the data, efficiency is rejected since expectations are biased predictors of actual outcomes. Furthermore, expectations revisions are found to be correlated with components of the information set known at the time of decision making. Finally, our results qualify regressive expectations as the mechanism that more adequately describes the formation of expectations.