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Developing economies and international investors : do investment promotion agencies bring them together ?

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Author Info
Harding, Torfinn
Javorcik, Beata Smarzynska

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Abstract

Many countries spend significant resources on investment promotion agencies in the hope of attracting inflows of foreign direct investment. Despite the importance of this question for public policy choices, little is known about the effectiveness of investment promotion efforts. This study uses newly collected data on national investment promotion agencies in 109 countries to examine the effects of investment promotion on foreign direct investment inflows. The empirical analysis follows two approaches. First, it tests whether sectors explicitly targeted by investment promotion agencies receive more foreign direct investment in the post-targeting period relative to the pre-targeting period and non-targeted sectors. Second, it examines whether the existence of an investment promotion agency is correlated with higher foreign direct investment inflows. Results fromboth approaches point to the same conclusion. Investment promotion efforts appear to increase foreign direct investment inflows to developing countries. Moreover, agency characteristics, such as the agency's legal status and reporting structure, affect the effectiveness of investment promotion. There is also evidence of diversion of foreign direct investment due to investment incentives offered by other countries in the same geographic region.

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Paper provided by The World Bank in its series Policy Research Working Paper Series with number 4339.

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Date of creation: 01 Aug 2007
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Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4339

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Related research
Keywords: Investment and Investment Climate; Foreign Direct Investment; Debt Markets; Emerging Markets;

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This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports: References listed on IDEAS
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  3. Gustavo J. Bobonis & Howard J. Shatz, 2007. "Agglomeration, Adjustment, and State Policies in the Location of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 89(1), pages 30-43, 01. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Cletus C. Coughlin & Eran Segev, 2000. "Location Determinants of New Foreign-Owned Manufacturing Plants," Journal of Regional Science, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(2), pages 323-351. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Görg, Holger & Henry, Michael & Strobl, Eric, 2007. "Grant Support and Exporting Activity," CEPR Discussion Papers 6054, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Gordon H. HANSON, 2001. "Should Countries Promote Foreign Direct Investment?," G-24 Discussion Papers 9, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. [Downloadable!]
  7. Holger Görg & David Greenaway, 2004. "Much Ado about Nothing? Do Domestic Firms Really Benefit from Foreign Direct Investment?," World Bank Research Observer, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(2), pages 171-197.
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  8. Andrew Charlton, 2003. "Incentive Bidding for Mobile Investment: Economic Consequences and Potential Responses," OECD Development Centre Working Papers 203, OECD, Development Centre. [Downloadable!]
  9. Lederman, Daniel & Olarreaga, Marcelo & Payton, Lucy, 2006. "Export promotion agencies : what works and what doesn't," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4044, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Barry Eichengreen & Hui Tong, 2005. "Is China's FDI Coming at the Expense of Other Countries?," NBER Working Papers 11335, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Greenwald, Bruce C & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1986. "Externalities in Economies with Imperfect Information and Incomplete Markets," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 101(2), pages 229-64, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Smarzynska, Beata K., 2002. "The composition of foreign direct investment and protection of intellectual property rights : evidence from transition economies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2786, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  13. Bruce A. Blonigen & Miao Wang, 2004. "Inappropriate Pooling of Wealthy and Poor Countries in Empirical FDI Studies," NBER Working Papers 10378, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Robert E. Lipsey, 2007. "Defining and Measuring the Location of FDI Output," NBER Working Papers 12996, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Beata Smarzynska Javorcik & Mariana Spatareanu, 2003. "To share or not to share : does local participation matter for spillovers from foreign direct investment?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3118, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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(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.)

  1. Dalila NICET- CHENAF (GREThA UMR CNRS 5113) & Eric ROUGIER (GREThA UMR CNRS 5113), 2008. "Recent exports matter: export discoveries, FDI and Growth, an empirical assessment for MENA countries," Cahiers du GREThA 2008-22, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Alaya MAROUANE (Université de Tunis) & Dalila NICET-CHENAF (GREThA-GRES) & Eric ROUGIER (GREThA-GRES), 2008. "The law of growth and attraction: an endogenous model of absorptive capacities, FDI and income for MENA countries," Cahiers du GRES 2008-21, Groupement de Recherches Economiques et Sociales. [Downloadable!]
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  3. Beata S. Javorcik & Mariana Spatareanu, 2008. "Liquidity Constraints and Linkages with Multinationals," LICOS Discussion Papers 22508, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, K.U.Leuven. [Downloadable!]
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