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.     

When does FDI have positive spillovers? Evidence from 17 transition market economies

We use rich firm-level data and national input–output tables from 17 countries over the 2002–2005 period to test new and existing hypotheses about the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the efficiency of domestic firms in the host country (i.e., spillovers). We document that backward linkages have a consistently positive effect on productivity of domestic firms while horizontal and forward linkages show no consistent effect. We also examine how the strength of spillovers varies by sector, FDI source, institutional environment (corruption, red tape, level of development), firm’s distance to the technological frontier, and other firm- and country-specific characteristics.     

The impact of corruption on FDI: is MENA an exception?

The eruption of the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt was ensued by deterioration in FDI inflows. Whether a new Middle East free of corruption accompanying previous dictatorships will offset the negative ramifications of the uprisings and enhance FDI in the long run remains debatable. Since the evidence on the causal relationship between corruption and FDI is inconclusive, this study attempts to take another step. The paper investigates the link between corruption and FDI flows to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and assesses whether or not corruption has more importance than other FDI determinants. By employing several panel settings with various econometric specifications on 21 MENA countries over the period 2003 to 2009, it is demonstrated that FDI varies positively with corruption. Additionally, FDI in MENA was found to vary positively with per capita income, openness, freedom and security of investments and negatively with the tax and homicide rates. Since corruption was not found to hinder FDI inflows, treating corruption should be based on sound legal procedures that infringe neither on the rights, freedom and security of FDI nor on the degree of openness and freedom of the economy, which are the real stimulants of FDI in MENA.     

Corruption and economic growth: New empirical evidence

The nexus between corruption and economic growth has been examined for a long time. Many empirical studies measured corruption by the reversed Transparency International's Perception of Corruption Index (CPI) and ignored that the CPI was not comparable over time. The CPI is comparable over time since the year 2012. We employ new data for 175 countries over the period 2012–2018 and re-examine the nexus between corruption and economic growth. The cumulative long-run effect of corruption on growth is that real per capita GDP decreased by around 17% when the reversed CPI increased by one standard deviation. The effect of corruption on economic growth is especially pronounced in autocracies and transmits to growth by decreasing FDI and increasing inflation.     

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.     

东道国腐败对FDI及其来源的影响

腐败问题很早就受到政治学和经济学学者的重视,但在国际商务领域内,对这一问题的研究只有近十年的历史.东道国腐败不但会对流入该国的外商直接投资总量产生影响,而且会影响FDI的来源.运用国际公开数据,以FDI流入作为研究对象,实证检验以上理论假设,结果证明东道国腐败会对外商直接投资产生负面影响,如果FDI来源国存在海外反腐败法,东道国腐败就会使来自这些国家的FDI减少.     

腐败对外国直接投资影响的实证分析

本文依据世界106个国家的截面数据．分析了腐败对外国直接投资（FDI）的影响。研究结果表明，腐败与FDI之间存在显著的负相关。但是，腐败对FDI的负面影响可以在一定程度上被诸如东道国经济开放和政治稳定等积极因素所抵消。     

Does corruption hinder investment? Evidence from Russian regions

This paper investigates the relationship between corruption and fixed capital investment in the setting of a corrupt country. Using different measures of corruption – registered cases of bribe taking and incidents of experienced corruption by the population – we find a negative relationship between investment and corruption. We then address the problem of endogeneity of corruption using an instrumental variables approach: when corruption is instrumented with freedom of the press and violations of journalists' rights, we find an even bigger negative effect. Disaggregating investment by ownership-type shows that only private investment is affected by corruption, but not investment made by state-owned companies. The negative effect is larger for companies with full or partial foreign ownership. Additionally, we look at the relationship between corruption and foreign direct investment (FDI): similar to the investment in fixed capital, we find a negative relationship; however, its statistical significance varies across specifications with different data sources for FDI and different corruption measures.     

Export‐supporting FDI

A large fraction of affiliates owned by multinational manufacturing companies operate in the wholesale and retail sectors. This paper proposes a model of trade, horizontal FDI, and export‐supporting FDI (ESFDI). ESFDI reduces distribution costs abroad, while production remains at home. ESFDI introduces a complementarity between trade and FDI, while trade and production abroad remain substitutes. German firm‐level FDI data show that ESFDI is quantitatively relevant. In line with the model, most firms choose either ESFDI or horizontal FDI in a given market; ESFDI is chosen by smaller parents and is strongest when distance from Germany is low.     

FDI in space: Spatial autoregressive relationships in foreign direct investment

There are a number of theoretical reasons why foreign direct investment (FDI) into a host country may depend on the FDI in proximate countries. Such spatial interdependence has been largely ignored by the empirical FDI literature, with only a couple recent papers accounting for such issues in their estimation. This paper conducts a general examination of spatial interactions in empirical FDI models using data on US outbound FDI activity. We find that estimated relationships of traditional determinants of FDI are surprisingly robust to inclusion of terms to capture spatial interdependence, even though such interdependence is estimated to be significant. However, we find that both the traditional determinants of FDI and the estimated spatial interdependence are quite sensitive to the sample of countries one examines.     

The benefits to domestically owned plants from inward direct investment: the role of vertical linkages

Abstract The paper estimates the effects of the U.S. direct investment in Canada upon productivity in domestically owned plants. We distinguish between FDI in the industry of domestically controlled plants and FDI in the industries linked through supply or use of intermediate inputs. We find that an increase in supplier FDI increases productivity growth in domestically controlled plants. The positive productivity effects of FDI are more pronounced for plants that buy more intermediates and who purchase science‐based intermediate inputs (i.e., electronics, machinery and equipment, and chemicals). Productivity of domestic plants also benefits from larger‐scale and higher rates of advanced technologies adoption.     

东道国腐败对跨国公司进入模式的影响研究

作为东道国投资环境中的重要组成部分,腐败不但会对FDI流入总量产生影响,还会对跨国公司的战略产生影响,而首先受到影响的就是跨国公司的进入模式战略。本研究以19个新兴市场国家的745家跨国公司子公司作为样本,运用MANOVA分析、判别分析、Logistic分析等研究方法得到以下结论:第一,东道国国家层面感知腐败、产业层面感知腐败会使跨国公司采用持股比例较低的合资(控股或非控股)进入模式;第二,东道国腐败程度对跨国公司进入模式战略的影响会受到跨国公司进入东道国战略动机的调节。     

The effect of FDI on child labor

This paper examines the effect of FDI on child labor. Using 1995 data for 145 countries, we find that, contrary to common fears, FDI is negatively correlated with child labor. This effect disappears when controlling for per capita income. After doing so, we find no robust effect of either FDI or international trade on child labor. This result is robust to corrections for the endogeneity of FDI, trade, and income. Furthermore, this result is confirmed using data from earlier years. This suggests that the impact of FDI and trade on child labor, if any, is the increases in income they generate.     

Migrant networks and foreign direct investment

Although there exists a sizeable literature documenting the importance of ethnic networks for international trade, little attention has been devoted to studying the effects of migrants on foreign direct investment (FDI). The presence of migrants can stimulate FDI by promoting information flows across international borders and by serving as a contract enforcement mechanism. This paper investigates the link between the presence of migrants in the US and US FDI in the migrants' countries of origin, taking into account the potential endogeneity concerns. The results suggest that US FDI abroad is positively correlated with the presence of migrants from the host country. The data further indicate that the relationship between FDI and migration is stronger for migrants with tertiary education.     

A welfare analysis of unilateral trade and FDI liberalization

This paper uses a heterogeneous‐firms model to examine the pro‐competitive channel through which FDI affects national welfare. The model shows that the country from which FDI originates experiences a welfare gain following liberalization. However, a counterintuitive finding is that the welfare of the host country deteriorates. This is explained by the production relocation process that leads to an increase in the mass of domestic firms in the source country and a decrease in the host country. The model also confirms that unilateral trade liberalization brings a similar result even in the presence of bilateral FDI flows.     

Foreign Direct Investment and Environmental Taxes

Abstract. This paper studies the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on environmental policy stringency in a two-country model with trade costs, where FDI could be unilateral and bilateral and both governments address local pollution through environmental taxes. We show that FDI does not give rise to ecological dumping because the host country has an incentive to shift rents away from the source country toward the host country. Environmental policy strategies and welfare effects are studied under the assumption that parameter values support FDI to be profitable.     

The behaviour of Russian industrial enterprises under transformation

Regional economic growth in Russia's regions in 1995–2000 is analysed with particular attention paid to FDI and how it influenced growth during this period. FDI appears to have been essential before the 1998 crisis in helping the economy grow despite the initial chaos of the transition. Larger regional economies that have garnered most FDI and perhaps gone further with institutional reforms that can assist in capturing the full benefits of FDI are likely to lead economic growth in the future. All regions need to take advantage now of the favourable economic environment to assess and learn from prior FDI experience to foster future growth should the price of oil and the remaining advantage of a depreciated currency change. No evidence was found that region-wide corruption hindered economic growth in the 1990s.     

Profit taxation and the mode of foreign market entry

Abstract This paper studies the role of profit taxation for an international firm's decision upon how to penetrate a foreign market – through exports or through foreign direct investment (FDI) and local supply. We show that with harmonized taxes the international firm may choose FDI even though this has welfare costs from a global point of view. With tax competition, the host country can enforce exporting instead of FDI. This leads to a Nash equilibrium associated with higher world welfare than harmonized taxes. Thus, because of the effect on entry mode, tax competition provides heretofore unexplored benefits as compared to tax harmonization.     

Institutional Efficiency,Monitoring Costs and the Investment Share of FDI*

This paper models and tests the implications of institutional efficiency on the pattern of FDI. We posit that domestic agents have a comparative advantage over foreign agents in overcoming some of the obstacles associated with corruption and weak institutions. Under these circumstances, FDI is more sensitive to increases in enforcement costs. We then test this prediction, comparing institutional efficiency levels for a large cross‐section of countries in 1989 to subsequent FDI flows through the period of 1990–99, finding that institutional efficiency is positively associated with the ratio of subsequent foreign direct investment flows to both gross fixed capital formation and to private investment.     

Regional economic integration and geographic concentration of multinational firms

A number of theoretical studies have predicted that preferential trade agreements (PTAs) raise outside multinationals’ incentive to invest in the participating countries, especially in those that are integrated with larger markets and have lower production costs. The hypothesis has, however, not been tested empirically. This paper addresses the issue by estimating the impact of PTAs on countries’ ability to attract multinationals. The evidence is broadly consistent with expectations. The formation of PTAs leads to an increase in FDI by outside multinationals, but the effect varies sharply with the size of integrated markets and countries’ comparative advantage. Countries integrated with larger markets experience a greater increase in total and export-platform FDI. Those with a higher labor endowment also attract more FDI especially in labor-intensive industries, but at the expense of their labor-scarce PTA partners.