Arslan Razmi () (University of Massachusetts Amherst)
Abstract
Many developing countries have adopted investor-friendly policies in recent years in order to attract export-oriented foreign direct investment (FDI). The effects of these policies on the external accounts have been largely ignored. This paper endogenizes FDI in°ows in a structuralist general equilibrium framework to contribute towards filling this gap. Our economy consists of: (i) a non-tradable goods sector and (ii) an export processing zone (EPZ) that hosts transnational corporations. The analysis finds that, contrary to widely-shared perceptions, the short-run effects of FDI-friendly policies on the balance of payments may frequently be negative due to the nature of both the investments and the policy measures. Moreover, balance of payments-related consequences of measures such as tax concessions and wage controls differ depending on: (i) which sector these are implemented in, (ii) the nature of international demand, and (iii) the extent of backward linkages between the EPZ and the domestic economy. JEL Categories: F21, F23, F41
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number
2005-03.
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