IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v40y2012i9p1798-1809.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Institutional Reforms Debate and FDI Flows to the MENA Region: The “Best” Ensemble

Author

Listed:
  • Mina, Wasseem Michel

Abstract

This paper empirically examines the theoretical debate on the adoption of a best approach to reforming institutions identified by Rodrik (2008) in the context of property rights protection and FDI flows to eight MENA countries. The first best approach comprises strengthening domestic institutional functions only, while the second best comprises in addition entering into force bilateral investment treaties and the interaction between functions and treaties. Empirically both approaches to reducing investment expropriation risk encourage FDI flows. The positive effect of the second best approach depends on the success of the first best approach, suggesting the two approaches are complementary.

Suggested Citation

  • Mina, Wasseem Michel, 2012. "The Institutional Reforms Debate and FDI Flows to the MENA Region: The “Best” Ensemble," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(9), pages 1798-1809.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:40:y:2012:i:9:p:1798-1809
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.04.026
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X12000964
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.04.026?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. World Bank, 2008. "The Road Not Traveled : Education Reform in the Middle East and North Africa," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6303.
    2. Wasseem Mina & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2006. "Contract Enforcement, Institutional Stability, and the Level and Maturity of International Debt," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0617, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    3. 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.
    4. Daude, Christian & Fratzscher, Marcel, 2008. "The pecking order of cross-border investment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 94-119, January.
    5. Avinash Dixit, 2009. "Governance Institutions and Economic Activity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(1), pages 5-24, March.
    6. Desbordes, Rodolphe & Vicard, Vincent, 2009. "Foreign direct investment and bilateral investment treaties: An international political perspective," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 372-386, September.
    7. Frenkel, Michael & Funke, Katja & Stadtmann, Georg, 2004. "A panel analysis of bilateral FDI flows to emerging economies," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 281-300, September.
    8. Neumayer, Eric & Spess, Laura, 2005. "Do bilateral investment treaties increase foreign direct investment to developing countries?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1567-1585, October.
    9. Mina, Wasseem, 2009. "External commitment mechanisms, institutions, and FDI in GCC countries," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 371-386, April.
    10. Aart Kraay & Vikram Nehru, 2006. "When Is External Debt Sustainable?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 20(3), pages 341-365.
    11. Laura Alfaro & Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan & Vadym Volosovych, 2008. "Why Doesn't Capital Flow from Rich to Poor Countries? An Empirical Investigation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(2), pages 347-368, May.
    12. Mina, Wasseem, 2007. "The location determinants of FDI in the GCC countries," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 336-348, October.
    13. Wasseem MIchel Mina, 2010. "Institutional Reforms Debate and FDI Flows to MENA Region: Does One “Best” Fit All?," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1034, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    14. 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.
    15. Douglass C. North, 1991. "Institutions," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 97-112, Winter.
    16. Egger, Peter & Pfaffermayr, Michael, 2004. "The impact of bilateral investment treaties on foreign direct investment," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 788-804, December.
    17. Wasseem MIchel Mina, 2010. "Institutional Reforms Debate and FDI Flows to MENA Region: Does One “Best” Fit All?," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1034, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    18. Bruce A. Blonigen & Ronald B. Davies, 2004. "The Effects of Bilateral Tax Treaties on U.S. FDI Activity," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 11(5), pages 601-622, September.
    19. Wasseem Mina, 2006. "Does contract enforcement matter for international lending?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(6), pages 359-364.
    20. Chien-Chiang Lee & Chun-Ping Chang, 2009. "FDI, financial development, and economic growth: International evidence," Journal of Applied Economics, Universidad del CEMA, vol. 12, pages 249-271, November.
    21. Christian Daude & Ernesto Stein, 2007. "The Quality Of Institutions And Foreign Direct Investment," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(3), pages 317-344, November.
    22. Peter Egger & Valeria Merlo, 2007. "The Impact of Bilateral Investment Treaties on FDI Dynamics," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(10), pages 1536-1549, October.
    23. Faria, Andr & Mauro, Paolo, 2009. "Institutions and the external capital structure of countries," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 367-391, April.
    24. Lane Philip R., 2004. "Empirical Perspectives on Long-Term External Debt," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 4(1), pages 1-23, January.
    25. 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.
    26. Du, Julan & Lu, Yi & Tao, Zhigang, 2008. "Economic institutions and FDI location choice: Evidence from US multinationals in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 412-429, September.
    27. Dani Rodrik, 2008. "Second-Best Institutions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(2), pages 100-104, May.
    28. International Monetary Fund, 2004. "Risk Instability and the Pattern of Foreign Direct Investment in the Middle East and North Africa Region," IMF Working Papers 2004/139, International Monetary Fund.
    29. 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.
    30. Mary Hallward-Driemeier, 2003. "Do bilateral investment treaties attract foreign direct investment? Only a bit - and they could bite," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3121, The World Bank.
    31. Bellak, Christian & Leibrecht, Markus & Riedl, Aleksandra, 2008. "Labour costs and FDI flows into Central and Eastern European Countries: A survey of the literature and empirical evidence," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 17-37, March.
    32. W. A. Naude & W. F. Krugell, 2007. "Investigating geography and institutions as determinants of foreign direct investment in Africa using panel data," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(10), pages 1223-1233.
    33. Bevan, Alan A. & Estrin, Saul, 2004. "The determinants of foreign direct investment into European transition economies," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 775-787, December.
    34. Anil Mishra & Kevin Daly, 2007. "Effect of quality of institutions on outward foreign direct investment," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 231-244.
    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. Wasseem MIchel Mina, 2010. "Institutional Reforms Debate and FDI Flows to MENA Region: Does One “Best” Fit All?," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1034, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    2. Mina, Wasseem, 2012. "Beyond FDI: The Influence of Bilateral Investment Treaties on Debt," MPRA Paper 51920, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Mina, Wasseem, 2015. "Political risk guarantees and capital flows: The role of bilateral investment treaties," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 9, pages 1-38.
    4. Wasseem MIchel Mina, 2010. "Institutional Reforms Debate and FDI Flows to MENA Region: Does One “Best” Fit All?," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1034, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    5. Wasseem Mina & Louis Jaeck, 2015. "Labor Market Flexibility and FDI Flows: Evidence from Oil-Rich GCC and Middle Income Countries," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1501, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    6. Mina, Wasseem, 2020. "Do GCC market-oriented labor policies encourage inward FDI flows?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    7. Wasseem Mina, 2018. "Labor Market Policies and FDI Flows to GCC Countries," Working Papers 1201, Economic Research Forum, revised 27 May 2018.
    8. 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.
    9. Mina, Wasseem, 2009. "External commitment mechanisms, institutions, and FDI in GCC countries," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 371-386, April.
    10. Maria Borga & Perla Ibarlucea Flores & Monika Sztajerowska, 2020. "Drivers of divestment decisions of multinational enterprises - A cross-country firm-level perspective," OECD Working Papers on International Investment 2019/03, OECD Publishing.
    11. Matthias Busse & Jens Königer & Peter Nunnenkamp, 2010. "FDI promotion through bilateral investment treaties: more than a bit?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 146(1), pages 147-177, April.
    12. Dalila Nicet-Chenaf & Eric Rougier & Kamel Abdellah, 2012. "FDI and macroeconomic volatility: a close-up on the source countries," Post-Print hal-00798467, HAL.
    13. Uddin, Moshfique & Chowdhury, Anup & Zafar, Sheeba & Shafique, Sujana & Liu, Jia, 2019. "Institutional determinants of inward FDI: Evidence from Pakistan," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 344-358.
    14. 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).
    15. Martin Gassebner & Pierre-Guillaume Méon, 2010. "Where do Creditor Rights Matter? Creditor Rights, Political Constraints, and Cross-Border M&A Activity," Working Papers CEB 10-019.RS, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    16. 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.
    17. Philipp Harms & Pierre-Guillaume Méon, 2013. "The Composition of FDI in the MENA Region and Other Countries: Econometric Investigation and Implications for MENA Countries," Working Papers 793, Economic Research Forum, revised Nov 2013.
    18. Bersan Haliti & Safet Merovci, 2020. "The Impact of the Investment Environment on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the European Transition Economies," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 1, pages 138-147, March.
    19. Aleksynska, Mariya & Havrylchyk, Olena, 2013. "FDI from the south: The role of institutional distance and natural resources," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 38-53.
    20. Bailey, Nicholas, 2018. "Exploring the relationship between institutional factors and FDI attractiveness: A meta-analytic review," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 139-148.

    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:wdevel:v:40:y:2012:i:9:p:1798-1809. 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/worlddev .

    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.