IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reveco/v92y2024icp1628-1639.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Outward foreign direct investment operation modes and reverse technology spillovers: Implications for the quality of economic growth

Author

Listed:
  • Kong, Qunxi
  • Wu, Peipei
  • Wang, Ziqi

Abstract

This study delves into the nuanced relationship between China's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) and the enhancement of economic growth quality, with a focus on the reverse technology spillover effect. Our findings reveal that OFDI contributes significantly to the efficiency and sustainability of economic growth. Notably, we observe a time-lag effect in the positive impact on growth quality, indicating a delayed manifestation of reverse technology spillovers. Furthermore, heterogeneity analysis suggests that OFDI in high-economic-level host countries, by firms with fewer branches and those in trade sales, enhances the quality, efficiency, and sustainability of China's economic growth, albeit with limited stability impact. Additionally, we uncover a mediating effect wherein OFDI-induced scale expansion elevates domestic human capital levels and research and development intensity, narrows the technology gap, and substantially increases the quality of China's economic growth. This research not only sheds light on the strategic value of China's OFDI in global economic dynamics, but also offers actionable insights for policymakers and businesses to harness OFDI for sustainable and quality-driven economic advancement.

Suggested Citation

  • Kong, Qunxi & Wu, Peipei & Wang, Ziqi, 2024. "Outward foreign direct investment operation modes and reverse technology spillovers: Implications for the quality of economic growth," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 1628-1639.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:92:y:2024:i:c:p:1628-1639
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2024.01.028
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056024000285
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iref.2024.01.028?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. Chou, Kuang-Hann & Chen, Chien-Hsun & Mai, Chao-Cheng, 2011. "The impact of third-country effects and economic integration on China's outward FDI," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 2154-2163, September.
    2. Herzer, Dierk, 2008. "The long-run relationship between outward FDI and domestic output: Evidence from panel data," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 146-149, July.
    3. Zhang, Dongyang & Kong, Qunxi, 2021. "How does energy policy affect firms' outward foreign direct investment: An explanation based on investment motivation and firms' performance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    4. Kong, Qunxi & Peng, Dan & Ni, Yehui & Jiang, Xinyue & Wang, Ziqi, 2021. "Trade openness and economic growth quality of China: Empirical analysis using ARDL model," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    5. Koizumi, Tetsunori & Kopecky, Kenneth J., 1977. "Economic growth, capital movements and the international transfer of technical knowledge," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 45-65, February.
    6. Kyoji Fukao & Tsutomu Miyagawa & Kentaro Mukai & Yukio Shinoda & Konomi Tonogi, 2009. "Intangible Investment In Japan: Measurement And Contribution To Economic Growth," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 55(3), pages 717-736, September.
    7. Alexander Hijzen & Sébastien Jean & Thierry Mayer, 2011. "The effects at home of initiating production abroad: evidence from matched French firms," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 147(3), pages 457-483, September.
    8. Barro, Robert J. & Lee, Jong-Wha, 1993. "International comparisons of educational attainment," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 363-394, December.
    9. 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.
    10. Matthias Busse & Ceren Erdogan & Henning Mühlen, 2016. "China's Impact on Africa – The Role of Trade, FDI and Aid," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(2), pages 228-262, May.
    11. Wong, Zoey & Chen, Afei & Peng, Dan & Kong, Qunxi, 2022. "Does technology-seeking OFDI improve the productivity of Chinese firms under the COVID-19 pandemic?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    12. Beata Smarzynska Javorcik, 2004. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Increase the Productivity of Domestic Firms? In Search of Spillovers Through Backward Linkages," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 605-627, June.
    13. Kong, Qunxi & Chen, Afei & Shen, Chenrong & Wong, Zoey, 2021. "Has the Belt and Road Initiative improved the quality of economic growth in China's cities?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 870-883.
    14. Peng, Dan & Ji, Y. & Kong, Qunxi, 2023. "OFDI and firms' sustainable productive capacity: Evidence from Chinese industrial firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 641-652.
    15. Stevens, Guy V. G. & Lipsey, Robert E., 1992. "Interactions between domestic and foreign investment," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 40-62, February.
    16. Chow, Gregory C & Li, Kui-Wai, 2002. "China's Economic Growth: 1952-2010," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 51(1), pages 247-256, October.
    17. Robert Barro, 2002. "Quantity and Quality of Economic Growth," Central Banking, Analysis, and Economic Policies Book Series, in: Norman Loayza & Raimundo Soto & Norman Loayza (Series Editor) & Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel (Series Editor) (ed.),Economic Growth: Sources, Trends, and Cycles, edition 1, volume 6, chapter 5, pages 135-162, Central Bank of Chile.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tao, Miaomiao & Wang, Jianda & Roubaud, David & Qi, Lingli, 2025. "Global reach, local impact: How China's outward foreign direct investment shapes corporate carbon risk management?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    2. Wang, Ziqi & Peng, Dan & Kong, Qunxi & Tan, Feifei, 2025. "Digital infrastructure and economic growth: Evidence from corporate investment efficiency," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).

    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. Peng, Dan & Ji, Y. & Kong, Qunxi, 2023. "OFDI and firms' sustainable productive capacity: Evidence from Chinese industrial firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 641-652.
    2. Peng, Dan & Wang, Ziqi & Kong, Qunxi & Cai, Molly, 2024. "Evaluating the impact of OFDI on the growth quality of industrial firms: A dual-perspective analysis from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 1616-1627.
    3. Wong, Zoey & Chen, Afei & Peng, Dan & Kong, Qunxi, 2022. "Does technology-seeking OFDI improve the productivity of Chinese firms under the COVID-19 pandemic?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    4. Dierk Herzer, 2010. "The Long-Run Relationship between Outward FDI and Total Factor Productivity: Evidence for Developing Countries," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 199, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research.
    5. Li, Linjie & Liu, Xiaming & Yuan, Dong & Yu, Miaojie, 2017. "Does outward FDI generate higher productivity for emerging economy MNEs? – Micro-level evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 839-854.
    6. Luisa Gagliardi & Simona Iammarino & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2021. "Exposure to OFDI and regional labour markets: evidence for routine and non-routine jobs in Great Britain [Who’s got the aces up his sleeve? Functional specialization of cities and entrepreneurship]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 21(5), pages 783-806.
    7. Zhoufu Yan & Shuntian Sui & Fangwei Wu & Li Cao, 2023. "The Impact of Outward Foreign Direct Investment on Product Quality and Export: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-13, February.
    8. Nadia Doytch, 2021. "Who Gains from Services FDI—Host or Home Economies? An Analysis of Disaggregated Services FDI Inflows and Outflows of 24 European Economies," Foreign Trade Review, , vol. 56(3), pages 257-288, August.
    9. Ian Goldin & Pantelis Koutroumpis & François Lafond & Julian Winkler, 2024. "Why Is Productivity Slowing Down?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 62(1), pages 196-268, March.
    10. Emmanuel Dhyne & Selen Sarisoy Guerin, 2014. "Outward foreign direct investment and domestic performance : In search of a causal link," Working Paper Research 272, National Bank of Belgium.
    11. Orlic, Edvard & Hashi, Iraj & Hisarciklilar, Mehtap, 2018. "Cross sectoral FDI spillovers and their impact on manufacturing productivity," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 777-796.
    12. Catherine Fuss & Angelos Theodorakopoulos, 2018. "Compositional Changes in Aggregate Productivity in an Era of Globalisation and Financial Crisis," Working Papers of VIVES - Research Centre for Regional Economics 627696, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), VIVES - Research Centre for Regional Economics.
    13. Philipp Harms & Pierre-Guillaume Méon, 2013. "The Growth Effects of Greenfield Investment and Mergers and Acquisitions: Econometric Investigation and Implication for MENA Countries," Working Papers 794, Economic Research Forum, revised Nov 2013.
    14. Javorcik, Beata S. & Özden, Çaglar & Spatareanu, Mariana & Neagu, Cristina, 2011. "Migrant networks and foreign direct investment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 231-241, March.
    15. Amiti, Mary & Duprez, Cédric & Konings, Jozef & Van Reenen, John, 2024. "FDI and superstar spillovers: Evidence from firm-to-firm transactions," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    16. Hsu, Wen-Tai & Lu, Yi & Luo, Xuan & Zhu, Lianming, 2023. "Foreign direct investment and industrial agglomeration: Evidence from China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 610-639.
    17. Görg Holger & Marchal Léa, 2019. "Die Effekte deutscher Direktinvestitionen im Empfängerland vor dem Hintergrund des Leistungsbilanzüberschusses: Empirische Evidenz mit Mikrodaten für Frankreich," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 20(1), pages 53-69, June.
    18. Kleinert, Jörn & Toubal, Farid, 2007. "The impact of locating production abroad on activities at home," Tübinger Diskussionsbeiträge 314, University of Tübingen, School of Business and Economics.
    19. Genthner, Robert & Kis-Katos, Krisztina, 2022. "Foreign investment regulation and firm productivity: Granular evidence from Indonesia," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 668-687.
    20. Zhang, Xiaobei & Wang, Xiaojun, 2021. "Measures of human capital and the mechanics of economic growth," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).

    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:reveco:v:92:y:2024:i:c:p:1628-1639. 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/620165 .

    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.