IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jrpoli/v99y2024ics0301420724007347.html

Institutions as a determinant of FDI and the role of natural resources

Author

Listed:
  • Bothner, Jonathan

Abstract

This study examines the link between institutional quality and foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to developing countries. The link is investigated at different levels of host countries’ natural resource endowment. Weak institutions can be expected to attract FDI in natural resource abundant countries since they facilitate rent seeking behavior which is commonly thought to be prevalent in the natural resources sector. However, weak institutions also increase uncertainty, thus discouraging investments involving initial sunk costs as large as they commonly are in the natural resources sector. The aim of this study is to empirically assess how natural resource endowment moderates the effect of institutions on FDI. Using data on 117 developing and emerging countries over the time period 1996–2019, I estimate a dynamic panel model using the system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator. I find a positive effect of institutional quality on FDI inflows only for countries with relatively high levels of natural resource endowment. The results are significant as they provide evidence for a narrative which is inconsistent with the results of earlier empirical research. They indicate that a higher natural resource endowment increases the importance of institutional quality as a determinant of FDI.

Suggested Citation

  • Bothner, Jonathan, 2024. "Institutions as a determinant of FDI and the role of natural resources," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:99:y:2024:i:c:s0301420724007347
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2024.105367
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301420724007347
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.resourpol.2024.105367?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tunyi, Abongeh A. & Ntim, Collins G., 2016. "Location Advantages, Governance Quality, Stock Market Development and Firm Characteristics as Antecedents of African M&As," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 147-167.
    2. Gründler, Klaus & Potrafke, Niklas, 2019. "Corruption and economic growth: New empirical evidence," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    3. Vianna, Andre C. & Mollick, Andre V., 2018. "Institutions: Key variable for economic development in Latin America," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 42-58.
    4. Hansen, Lars Peter, 1982. "Large Sample Properties of Generalized Method of Moments Estimators," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(4), pages 1029-1054, July.
    5. 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.
    6. Toke S. Aidt, 2009. "Corruption, institutions, and economic development," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 25(2), pages 271-291, Summer.
    7. Sergio Mariotti, 2023. "Competition policy in the new wave of global protectionism. Prospects for preserving a fdi-friendly institutional environment," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 50(2), pages 227-241, June.
    8. Agnès Bénassy‐Quéré & Maylis Coupet & Thierry Mayer, 2007. "Institutional Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 764-782, May.
    9. de Mello, Luiz R, Jr, 1999. "Foreign Direct Investment-Led Growth: Evidence from Time Series and Panel Data," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 51(1), pages 133-151, January.
    10. Egger, Peter & Winner, Hannes, 2005. "Evidence on corruption as an incentive for foreign direct investment," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 932-952, December.
    11. Lise Tole & Gary Koop, 2011. "Do environmental regulations affect the location decisions of multinational gold mining firms?," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 151-177, January.
    12. Henisz, Witold J. & Williamson, Oliver E., 1999. "Comparative Economic Organization—Within and Between Countries," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(3), pages 261-277, November.
    13. James Otto & Craig Andrews & Fred Cawood & Michael Doggett & Pietro Guj & Frank Stermole & John Stermole & John Tilton, 2006. "Mining Royalties : A Global Study of Their Impact on Investors, Government, and Civil Society," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7105, April.
    14. Arezki, Rabah & Brückner, Markus, 2011. "Oil rents, corruption, and state stability: Evidence from panel data regressions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(7), pages 955-963.
    15. Nunnenkamp, Peter & Bremont, José Eduardo Alatorre, 2007. "FDI in Mexico: An empirical assessment of employment effects," Kiel Working Papers 1328, Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
    16. Barrell, Ray & Pain, Nigel, 1999. "Domestic institutions, agglomerations and foreign direct investment in Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(4-6), pages 925-934, April.
    17. Cong Minh Huynh & Vu Hong Thai Nguyen & Hoang Bao Nguyen & Phuc Canh Nguyen, 2020. "One-way effect or multiple-way causality: foreign direct investment, institutional quality and shadow economy?," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 219-239, February.
    18. Dollar, David & Kraay, Aart, 2003. "Institutions, trade, and growth : revisiting the evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3004, The World Bank.
    19. Dani Rodrik & Arvind Subramanian & Francesco Trebbi, 2004. "Institutions Rule: The Primacy of Institutions Over Geography and Integration in Economic Development," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 131-165, June.
    20. Komla Agudze & Oyakhilome Ibhagui, 2021. "Inflation and FDI in industrialized and developing economies," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(5), pages 749-764, September.
    21. Wang, Jian-Ye, 1990. "Growth, technology transfer, and the long-run theory of international capital movements," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(3-4), pages 255-271, November.
    22. Asiedu, Elizabeth & Lien, Donald, 2011. "Democracy, foreign direct investment and natural resources," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 99-111, May.
    23. James Otto & Craig Andrews & Fred Cawood & Michael Doggett & Pietro Guj & Frank Stermole & John Stermole & John Tilton, 2006. "Mining Royalties : A Global Study of Their Impact on Investors, Government, and Civil Society, Appendixes," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7136, April.
    24. Witold J. Henisz, 2002. "The institutional environment for infrastructure investment," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 11(2), pages 355-389.
    25. Benjamin Gomes-Casseres, 1990. "Firm Ownership Preferences and Host Government Restrictions: An Integrated Approach," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 21(1), pages 1-22, March.
    26. Michael Sarel, 1996. "Nonlinear Effects of Inflation on Economic Growth," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 43(1), pages 199-215, March.
    27. Murtha, Thomas P., 1993. "Credible enticements : Can host governments tailor multinational firms' organizations to suit national objectives?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 171-186, February.
    28. Xavier Sala-i-Martin & Arvind Subramanian, 2013. "Addressing the Natural Resource Curse: An Illustration from Nigeria," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 22(4), pages 570-615, August.
    29. Elhanan Helpman & Marc J. Melitz & Stephen R. Yeaple, 2004. "Export Versus FDI with Heterogeneous Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(1), pages 300-316, March.
    30. Nathan Fagre & Louis T Wells, 1982. "Bargaining Power of Multinationals and Host Governments," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 13(2), pages 9-24, June.
    31. Bradford L. Barham & Jean-Paul Chavas & Oliver T. Coomes, 1998. "Sunk Costs and the Natural Resource Extraction Sector: Analytical Models and Historical Examples of Hysteresis and Strategic Behavior in the Americas," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 74(4), pages 429-448.
    32. Kaufmann, Daniel & Kraay, Aart & Mastruzzi, Massimo, 2010. "The worldwide governance indicators : methodology and analytical issues," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5430, The World Bank.
    33. Eggoh, Jude C. & Khan, Muhammad, 2014. "On the nonlinear relationship between inflation and economic growth," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 133-143.
    34. Vivoda, Vlado, 2011. "Determinants of foreign direct investment in the mining sector in Asia: A comparison between China and India," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 49-59, March.
    35. John H Dunning, 1988. "The Eclectic Paradigm of International Production: A Restatement and Some Possible Extensions," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 19(1), pages 1-31, March.
    36. Federico Carril-Caccia & Juliette Milgram-Baleix & Jordi Paniagua, 2019. "Foreign Direct Investment in oil-abundant countries: The role of institutions," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-23, April.
    37. Dawson, John W, 1998. "Institutions, Investment, and Growth: New Cross-Country and Panel Data Evidence," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 36(4), pages 603-619, October.
    38. Marc F. Bellemare & Casey J. Wichman, 2020. "Elasticities and the Inverse Hyperbolic Sine Transformation," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 82(1), pages 50-61, February.
    39. David Kucera & Marco Principi, 2014. "Democracy and foreign direct investment at the industry level: evidence for US multinationals," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 150(3), pages 595-617, August.
    40. Ramsay, Kristopher W., 2011. "Revisiting the Resource Curse: Natural Disasters, the Price of Oil, and Democracy," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 65(3), pages 507-529, July.
    41. Ronald B. Davies, 2008. "Hunting High and Low for Vertical FDI," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(2), pages 250-267, May.
    42. John H. Dunning, 1977. "Trade, Location of Economic Activity and the MNE: A Search for an Eclectic Approach," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Bertil Ohlin & Per-Ove Hesselborn & Per Magnus Wijkman (ed.), The International Allocation of Economic Activity, chapter 12, pages 395-418, Palgrave Macmillan.
    43. Nihal Bayraktar, 2013. "Foreign Direct investment and Investment Climate," EcoMod2013 5294, EcoMod.
    44. Magnus Blomström & Ari Kokko & Mario Zejan, 2000. "Multinational Corporations and Spillovers," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Foreign Direct Investment, chapter 8, pages 101-133, Palgrave Macmillan.
    45. Dollar, David & Kraay, Aart, 2003. "Institutions, trade, and growth," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 133-162, January.
    46. Carsten Hefeker & Sebastian G. Kessing, 2017. "Competition for natural resources and the hold-up problem," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 50(3), pages 871-888, August.
    47. Jensen, Nathan M., 2003. "Democratic Governance and Multinational Corporations: Political Regimes and Inflows of Foreign Direct Investment," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 57(3), pages 587-616, July.
    48. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    49. David J. TEECE, 2008. "TRANSACTIONS COST ECONOMICS AND THE MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISE: An Assessment," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Transfer And Licensing Of Know-How And Intellectual Property Understanding the Multinational Enterprise in the Modern World, chapter 20, pages 427-451, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    50. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    51. Donald J Lecraw, 1984. "Bargaining Power, Ownership, and Profitability of Transnational Corporations in Developing Countries," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 15(1), pages 27-43, March.
    52. Joshua Aizenman & Mark M. Spiegel, 2006. "Institutional Efficiency, Monitoring Costs and the Investment Share of FDI," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(4), pages 683-697, September.
    53. 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.
    54. Li, Quan & Resnick, Adam, 2003. "Reversal of Fortunes: Democratic Institutions and Foreign Direct Investment Inflows to Developing Countries," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 57(1), pages 175-211, January.
    55. Windmeijer, Frank, 2005. "A finite sample correction for the variance of linear efficient two-step GMM estimators," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 126(1), pages 25-51, May.
    56. Matthias Busse & Steffen Gröning, 2013. "The resource curse revisited: governance and natural resources," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 154(1), pages 1-20, January.
    57. Henisz, Witold J, 2000. "The Institutional Environment for Multinational Investment," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(2), pages 334-364, October.
    58. Adam L. Resnick, 2001. "Investors, turbulence, and transition: Democratic transition and foreign direct investment in nineteen developing countries," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(4), pages 381-398, June.
    59. David Roodman, 2009. "How to do xtabond2: An introduction to difference and system GMM in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 9(1), pages 86-136, March.
    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. Tag, Mehmet Nasih & Degirmen, Suleyman, 2022. "Economic freedom and foreign direct investment: Are they related?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 737-752.
    2. Akhtaruzzaman, M. & Berg, Nathan & Hajzler, Christopher, 2017. "Expropriation risk and FDI in developing countries: Does return of capital dominate return on capital?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 84-107.
    3. Federico Carril-Caccia & Juliette Milgram-Baleix & Jordi Paniagua, 2019. "Foreign Direct Investment in oil-abundant countries: The role of institutions," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-23, April.
    4. Pierre-Guillaume Méon & Khalid Sekkat, 2007. "Revisiting the relationship between governance and foreign direct investment," Brussels Economic Review, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 50(1), pages 41-61.
    5. David Kucera & Marco Principi, 2014. "Democracy and foreign direct investment at the industry level: evidence for US multinationals," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 150(3), pages 595-617, August.
    6. Fathi Ali & Norbert Fiess & Ronald MacDonald, 2010. "Do Institutions Matter for Foreign Direct Investment?," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 201-219, April.
    7. Tag, Mehmet Nasih, 2021. "Judicial institutions of property rights protection and foreign direct investment inflows," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    8. Anselm Komla Abotsi & Tongyai Iyavarakul, 2015. "Tolerable Level of Corruption for Foreign Direct Investment in Africa," Contemporary Economics, Vizja University, vol. 9(3), September.
    9. Hak Yeung & Jürgen Huber, 2022. "Further Evidence on China’s B&R Impact on Host Countries’ Quality of Institutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-17, May.
    10. Federico Carril-Caccia & Juliette Milgram Baleix & Jordi Paniagua, 2019. "The foreign direct investment-institution nexus in oil-abundant countries," Working Papers 1903, Department of Applied Economics II, Universidad de Valencia.
    11. Thomas Gries & Rainer Grundmann, 2020. "Modern sector development: The role of exports and institutions in developing countries," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(2), pages 644-667, May.
    12. Rustam Rakhmetov & Thomas Herzfeld, 2025. "Do bigger farms suffer less from corruption? Anti‐corruption efforts and the recovery of livestock production," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 33(3), pages 553-581, July.
    13. Nvuh‐Njoya Youssouf & Keneck‐Massil Joseph & Yogo Urbain Thierry, 2024. "Constitutional instability and foreign direct investment in Africa," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(1), pages 3-23, January.
    14. Eric Akobeng, 2017. "Gross Capital Formation, Institutions and Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(2), pages 136-164, April.
    15. Tristan Canare, 2018. "The Effect of Ease of Doing Business on Firm Creation," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 19(2), pages 555-584, November.
    16. Busse, Matthias & Hefeker, Carsten, 2007. "Political risk, institutions and foreign direct investment," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 397-415, June.
    17. Sargis Karavardanyan, 2022. "Short-Term Harm, Long-Term Prosperity? Democracy, Corruption and Foreign Direct Investments in Sino-African Economic Relations," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 64(3), pages 417-486, September.
    18. Schneider, Sophie Therese, 2018. "North-South trade agreements and the quality of institutions: Panel data evidence," Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences 27-2018, University of Hohenheim, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences.
    19. Benzaim, Samia & Ftiti, Zied & Khedhaouria, Anis & Djermane, Rebai, 2023. "US foreign investments: Technology transfer, relative backwardness, and the productivity growth of host countries," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 275-295.
    20. Zühal Kurul & A. Yasemin Yalta, 2017. "Relationship between Institutional Factors and FDI Flows in Developing Countries: New Evidence from Dynamic Panel Estimation," Economies, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-10, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:eee:jrpoli:v:99:y:2024:i:c:s0301420724007347. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/30467 .

    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.