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Good and bad FDI: The growth effects of greenfield investment and mergers and acquisitions in developing countries

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  • Philipp Harms
  • Pierre-Guillaume Méon

Abstract

We explore the effect of foreign direct investment on economic growth in developing countries, distinguishing between mergers and acquisitions (“M&As”) and “greenfield” investment. A simple model underlines that, unlike greenfield investment, M&As partly represent a rent accruing to previous owners, and do not necessarily contribute to expanding the host country’s capital stock. Greenfield FDI should therefore have a stronger impact on growth than M&A sales. This hypothesis is supported by our empirical results, which show that greenfield FDI enhances growth, while M&As have no effect, at best, in a panel of up to 78 developing and emerging countries over 1987-2005.

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  • Philipp Harms & Pierre-Guillaume Méon, 2014. "Good and bad FDI: The growth effects of greenfield investment and mergers and acquisitions in developing countries," Working Papers CEB 14-021, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    • Handle: RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/174783
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    3. Burger, Martijn J. & Ianchovichina, Elena I., 2014. "Surges and stops in FDI flows to developing countries : does the mode of entry make a difference ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6771, The World Bank.
    4. Bougharriou, Nouha & Benayed, Walid & Gabsi, Foued Badr, 2019. "The democracy and economic growth nexus: Do FDI and government spending matter? Evidence from the Arab world," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 13, pages 1-29.
    5. Cristina JUDE & Grégory LEVIEUGE, 2013. "Growth Effect of FDI in Developing Economies: the Role of Institutional Quality," LEO Working Papers / DR LEO 2251, Orleans Economics Laboratory / Laboratoire d'Economie d'Orleans (LEO), University of Orleans.
    6. Ronald B. Davies & Rodolphe Desbordes & Anna Ray, 2018. "Greenfield versus merger and acquisition FDI: Same wine, different bottles?," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 51(4), pages 1151-1190, November.
    7. Shima'a Hanafy & Marcus Marktanner, 2015. "Sectoral FDI, Absorptive Capacity and Economic Growth — Empirical Evidence from Egyptian Governorates," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201537, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    8. Asian Development Bank Institute, 2017. "Asian Economic Integration Report 2016," Working Papers id:11730, eSocialSciences.
    9. Shima’a Hanafy & Marcus Marktanner, 2019. "Sectoral FDI, absorptive capacity and economic growth – empirical evidence from Egyptian governorates," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1), pages 57-81, January.
    10. Marcin Humanicki & Krzysztof Olszewski, 2020. "The Heterogeneous Nature of FDI in Central and Eastern Europe. Impact of the Entry Mode on the Host Country’s Economic Growth," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 70(6), pages 541-565, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Growth; foreign direct investmen; mergers and acquisitions; greenfield investment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • F43 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Economic Growth of Open Economies
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance

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