KOREAN MULTINATIONALS' FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT PROJECTS: Variability in the Micro- and Macro-Level Determinants

Both theory and policy should be more sensitive to projectlevel features in analyses of foreign direct investment (FDI). This study tests hypotheses about the relative importance of the determinants of Korean multinationals' FDI. The study attempts to explain the often inconclusive and conflicting results of many previous empirical studies of the determinants of FDI; these studies have failed to take into account the variability in the determinants across types of FDI projects based on their strategic objectives and production functions. On the basis of empirical results, the present study offers a framework for the analysis of the determinants of FDI that incorporates project variables at the micro level and country variables at the macro level. These variables include host country policies, such as investment incentives and trade barriers.