IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/worlde/v29y2006i1p63-77.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Foreign Direct Investment in Africa: The Role of Natural Resources, Market Size, Government Policy, Institutions and Political Instability

Author

Listed:
  • Elizabeth Asiedu

Abstract

Data from several investor surveys suggest that macroeconomic instability, investment restrictions, corruption and political instability have a negative impact on foreign direct investment (FDI) to Africa. However, the relationship between FDI and these country characteristics has not been studied. This paper uses panel data for 22 countries over the period 1984–2000 to examine the impact of natural resources, market size, government policies, political instability and the quality of the host country's institutions on FDI. It also analyses the importance of natural resources and market size vis‐à‐vis government policy and the host country's institutions in directing FDI flows. The main result is that natural resources and large markets promote FDI. However, lower inflation, good infrastructure, an educated population, openness to FDI, less corruption, political stability and a reliable legal system have a similar effect. A benchmark specification shows that a decline in the corruption from the level of Nigeria to that of South Africa has the same positive effect on FDI as increasing the share of fuels and minerals in total exports by about 35 per cent. These results suggest that countries that are small or lack natural resources can attract FDI by improving their institutions and policy environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Elizabeth Asiedu, 2006. "Foreign Direct Investment in Africa: The Role of Natural Resources, Market Size, Government Policy, Institutions and Political Instability," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 63-77, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:worlde:v:29:y:2006:i:1:p:63-77
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9701.2006.00758.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9701.2006.00758.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-9701.2006.00758.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jose De Gregorio, 2003. "The Role of Foreign Direct Investment and Natural Resources in Economic Development," Working Papers Central Bank of Chile 196, Central Bank of Chile.
    2. Adugna Lemi & Sisay Asefa, 2003. "Foreign Direct Investment and Uncertainty: Empirical Evidence from Africa," The African Finance Journal, Africagrowth Institute, vol. 5(1), pages 36-67.
    3. Asiedu, Elizabeth, 2002. "On the Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment to Developing Countries: Is Africa Different?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 107-119, January.
    4. Mr. Saleh M. Nsouli & Mr. Norbert Funke, 2003. "The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Opportunities and Challenges," IMF Working Papers 2003/069, International Monetary Fund.
    5. Balasubramanyam, V N & Salisu, M & Sapsford, David, 1996. "Foreign Direct Investment and Growth in EP and IS Countries," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(434), pages 92-105, January.
    6. Owusu, Francis, 2003. "Pragmatism and the Gradual Shift from Dependency to Neoliberalism: The World Bank, African Leaders and Development Policy in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(10), pages 1655-1672, October.
    7. Luiz R. de Mello Jr., 1997. "Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries: A Selective Survey," Studies in Economics 9701, School of Economics, University of Kent.
    8. Peter Nunnenkamp, 2004. "To What Extent Can Foreign Direct Investment Help Achieve International Development Goals?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(5), pages 657-677, May.
    9. De Gregorio, Jose, 1992. "Economic growth in Latin America," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 59-84, July.
    10. Borensztein, E. & De Gregorio, J. & Lee, J-W., 1998. "How does foreign direct investment affect economic growth?1," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 115-135, June.
    11. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:6:y:2002:i:4:p:1-19 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Ms. Dalia S Hakura & Mr. Saleh M. Nsouli, 2003. "The Millennium Development Goals, Capacity Building, and the Role of the IMF," IMF Working Papers 2003/119, International Monetary Fund.
    13. Francisco Rodríguez & Dani Rodrik, 2001. "Trade Policy and Economic Growth: A Skeptic's Guide to the Cross-National Evidence," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2000, Volume 15, pages 261-338, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Alfaro, Laura & Chanda, Areendam & Kalemli-Ozcan, Sebnem & Sayek, Selin, 2004. "FDI and economic growth: the role of local financial markets," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 89-112, October.
    15. Shang-Jin Wei, 2000. "How Taxing is Corruption on International Investors?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 82(1), pages 1-11, February.
    16. Magnus Blomstrom & Robert E. Lipsey & Mario Zejan, 1992. "What Explains Developing Country Growth?," NBER Working Papers 4132, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. J Benson Durham, "undated". "A Survey of the Econometric Literature on the Real Effects of International Capital Flows in Lower Income Countries," QEH Working Papers qehwps50, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    18. Asiedu, Elizabeth & Villamil, Anne P., 2000. "Discount Factors And Thresholds: Foreign Investment When Enforcement Is Imperfect," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(1), pages 1-21, March.
    19. Luiz de Mello, 1997. "Foreign direct investment in developing countries and growth: A selective survey," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(1), pages 1-34.
    20. Geeta Batra & Daniel Kaufmann & Andrew H. W. Stone, 2003. "Investment Climate Around the World : Voices of the Firms from the World Business Environment Survey," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 15143, April.
    21. Edgardo Campos, J. & Lien, Donald & Pradhan, Sanjay, 1999. "The Impact of Corruption on Investment: Predictability Matters," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 1059-1067, June.
    22. repec:bla:devpol:v:22:y:2004:i::p:371-379 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. BRUNETTI, AYMO AART OLIVER & Kisunko,Gregory & Weder,Beatrice Silvia, 1997. "Institutional obstacles to doing business : region-by-region results from a worldwide survey of the private sector," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1759, The World Bank.
    24. World Bank, 2003. "World Development Indicators 2003," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13920, April.
    25. Anthony Bende-Nabende, 2002. "Foreign direct investment determinants in Sub-Sahara Africa: A co-integration analysis," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 6(4), pages 1-19.
    26. Gastanaga, Victor M. & Nugent, Jeffrey B. & Pashamova, Bistra, 1998. "Host Country Reforms and FDI Inflows: How Much Difference do they Make?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(7), pages 1299-1314, July.
    27. Morisset, Jacques, 2000. "Foreign direct investment in Africa : policies also matter," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2481, The World Bank.
    28. repec:bla:rdevec:v:6:y:2002:i:2:p:248-62 is not listed on IDEAS
    29. Frankel, Jeffrey, 2003. "National Institutions and the Role of the IMF," Working Paper Series rwp03-010, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Adeel Ahmad DAR & Taj MUHAMMAD & M. Wasif SIDDIQI, 2020. "Bureaucratic Quality and FDI Inflows Nexus: A South Asian Perspective," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(3), pages 149-168, September.
    2. Alaya MAROUANE & Dalila NICET-CHENAF & Eric ROUGIER, 2008. "The law of growth and attraction: an endogenous model of absorptive capacities, FDI and income for MENA countries," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2008-27, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    3. Iamsiraroj, Sasi, 2016. "The foreign direct investment–economic growth nexus," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 116-133.
    4. Dierk Herzer & Stephan Klasen & Felicitas Nowak-Lehmann D., 2006. "In search of FDI-led growth in developing countries," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 150, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research.
    5. Argentino Pessoa, 2008. "Multinational Corporations, Foreign Investment, and Royalties and License Fees: Effects on Host-Country Total Factor Productivity," Notas Económicas, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, issue 28, pages 6-31, December.
    6. David Mayer‐Foulkes & Peter Nunnenkamp, 2009. "Do Multinational Enterprises Contribute to Convergence or Divergence? A Disaggregated Analysis of US FDI," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(2), pages 304-318, May.
    7. Silvio Traverso & Guido Bonatti, 2015. "Education and FDI: An Insight from US Outflows," Journal of Social Economics, Research Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 2(3), pages 101-116.
    8. Dalila NICET-CHENAF & Eric ROUGIER, 2009. "FDI and growth: A new look at a still puzzling issue," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2009-13, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    9. Gui-Diby, Steve Loris, 2014. "Impact of foreign direct investments on economic growth in Africa: Evidence from three decades of panel data analyses," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 248-256.
    10. Burcu ŞENALP, 2018. "Foreign Direct Investment, Economic Growth and Economic Freedom: A Literature Survey," Istanbul Journal of Economics-Istanbul Iktisat Dergisi, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 68(2), pages 301-336, December.
    11. Kottaridi, Constantina & Stengos, Thanasis, 2010. "Foreign direct investment, human capital and non-linearities in economic growth," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 858-871, September.
    12. Busse, Matthias & Groizard, José Luis, 2005. "FDI, Regulations and Growth," Conference papers 331335, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    13. Henrik Hansen & John Rand, 2006. "On the Causal Links Between FDI and Growth in Developing Countries," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 21-41, January.
    14. Herzer, Dierk & Klasen, Stephan & Nowak-Lehmann D., Felicitas, 2008. "In search of FDI-led growth in developing countries: The way forward," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 793-810, September.
    15. Wu, Jyun-Yi & Hsu, Chih-Chiang, 2012. "Foreign direct investment and income inequality: Does the relationship vary with absorptive capacity?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 2183-2189.
    16. Yalta, A. Yasemin, 2013. "Revisiting the FDI-led growth Hypothesis: The case of China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 335-343.
    17. Prüfer, P. & Tondl, G., 2008. "The FDI-Growth Nexus in Latin America : The Role of Source Countries and Local Conditions," Other publications TiSEM 73b28850-1597-4bcb-a76c-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    18. Chee-Keong Choong, 2012. "Does domestic financial development enhance the linkages between foreign direct investment and economic growth?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 819-834, June.
    19. Matthias Busse & José Luis Groizard, 2008. "Foreign Direct Investment, Regulations and Growth," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 861-886, July.
    20. Giorgia Giovannetti & Elisa Ticci, 2013. "Foreign Direct Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Drivers and the Challenge of the Land-Energy Nexus," Working Papers - Economics wp2013_09.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:worlde:v:29:y:2006:i:1:p:63-77. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0378-5920 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.