The tradition of gravity models is in the analysis of trade flows with market size and geographic or economic distance as core variables. Both these variables can be important determinants of FDI, too. However, when such models are used to explain FDI, there can be differences in the mode of operation of these variables so that the interpretation can become uncertain. Market size can reach beyond the host country and distance can be an incentive as well as an impediment to FDI. In the present paper, we use gravity-type models in order to assess the level of German FDI in CEE countries, distinguishing between the four nearby core countries and the other six EU accession countries. Estimates are done both on the basis of an in-sample as well as an out-of-sample approach on the basis of FDI in 81 important host countries. From the various specifications it becomes obvious that (1) beside the size of the host country, the market potential of neighboring countries is an important determinant of the regional structure of German FDI, and (2) the costs of operating at a distance seem to be weighted higher than the advantage of being close to distant markets. Geographic distance seems to be more important than various measures of economic distance. On the whole, gravity-type models seem to be appropriate to explain the regional structure of FDI. However, the results should be interpreted with caution given the extremely wide confidence intervals of the estimates which is a feature of former studies, too.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Publisher Info
Paper provided by Hamburg Institute of International Economics in its series Discussion Paper Series with number
26386.
References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
Cited by: (explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)