IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/snbeco/v5y2025i3d10.1007_s43546-025-00798-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The significance of foreign direct investment (FDI) and trade openness: evidence from nine European economies

Author

Listed:
  • Evans Yeboah

    (Mendel University)

  • Alexander Amo Baffour

    (Pentecost University)

  • Haggai Chibale Chibalamula

    (Mendel University)

  • Francis Atiso

    (Tomas Bata University)

Abstract

This study examines the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) and trade openness on economic growth in nine European countries using World Bank data (1995–2021). The analysis employs the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model to capture both short- and long-run dynamics. The findings indicate that FDI has a positive short-term effect but a negative long-term impact on economic growth. Similarly, trade openness stimulates growth in the short run but exerts a negative influence in the long run. Gross fixed capital formation has no immediate effect on GDP per capita but contributes positively in the long term. Granger causality tests reveal a unidirectional relationship from GDP per capita to both trade openness and gross fixed capital formation, while a bidirectional relationship exists between gross fixed capital formation and trade openness. These findings suggest the need for balanced policy measures to maximize the benefits of FDI and trade openness while mitigating long-term risks. Policymakers should focus on strengthening domestic industries, enhancing economic resilience, and implementing strategies to improve the absorptive capacity of FDI to optimize its long-run contributions to growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Evans Yeboah & Alexander Amo Baffour & Haggai Chibale Chibalamula & Francis Atiso, 2025. "The significance of foreign direct investment (FDI) and trade openness: evidence from nine European economies," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 1-21, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:snbeco:v:5:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s43546-025-00798-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s43546-025-00798-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s43546-025-00798-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s43546-025-00798-8?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. Romer, Paul M, 1986. "Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(5), pages 1002-1037, October.
    2. Martin Bijsterbosch & Marcin Kolasa, 2010. "FDI and productivity convergence in Central and Eastern Europe: an industry-level investigation," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 145(4), pages 689-712, January.
    3. Pedroni, Peter, 2004. "Panel Cointegration: Asymptotic And Finite Sample Properties Of Pooled Time Series Tests With An Application To The Ppp Hypothesis," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(3), pages 597-625, June.
    4. Robert M. Solow, 1956. "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 70(1), pages 65-94.
    5. Marilyne Huchet†Bourdon & Chantal Le Mouël & Mariana Vijil, 2018. "The relationship between trade openness and economic growth: Some new insights on the openness measurement issue," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 59-76, January.
    6. Blomström, Magnus & Kokko, Ari, 2003. "Human Capital and Inward FDI," EIJS Working Paper Series 167, Stockholm School of Economics, The European Institute of Japanese Studies.
    7. Kyle Handley & Nuno Limão, 2018. "Trade and Investment under Policy Uncertainty: Theory and Firm Evidence," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Policy Externalities and International Trade Agreements, chapter 4, pages 89-122, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    8. Perron, Pierre, 1988. "Trends and random walks in macroeconomic time series : Further evidence from a new approach," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 12(2-3), pages 297-332.
    9. Im, Kyung So & Pesaran, M. Hashem & Shin, Yongcheol, 2003. "Testing for unit roots in heterogeneous panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 53-74, July.
    10. Alam, Md. Mahmudul & Murad, Md. Wahid, 2020. "The impacts of economic growth, trade openness and technological progress on renewable energy use in organization for economic co-operation and development countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 382-390.
    11. Marco Montanari, 2005. "EU Trade with the Balkans : Large Room for Growth?," Eastern European Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 59-81, January.
    12. Mohamed Abdouli & Sami Hammami, 2017. "The Impact of FDI Inflows and Environmental Quality on Economic Growth: an Empirical Study for the MENA Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 8(1), pages 254-278, March.
    13. Riccardo Crescenzi & Mara Giua, 2016. "The EU Cohesion Policy in context: Does a bottom-up approach work in all regions?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(11), pages 2340-2357, November.
    14. Engle, Robert & Granger, Clive, 2015. "Co-integration and error correction: Representation, estimation, and testing," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 39(3), pages 106-135.
    15. Pesaran, H. Hashem & Shin, Yongcheol, 1998. "Generalized impulse response analysis in linear multivariate models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 17-29, January.
    16. Dani Rodrik, 2018. "New Technologies, Global Value Chains, and the Developing Economies," CESifo Working Paper Series 7307, CESifo.
    17. 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.
    18. Hajamini, Mehdi & Falahi, Mohammad Ali, 2018. "Economic growth and government size in developed European countries: A panel threshold approach," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1-13.
    19. Apergis, Nicholas & Poufinas, Thomas, 2020. "The role of insurance growth in economic growth: Fresh evidence from a panel of OECD countries," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    20. Radulescu Magdalena & Cirstea Cornelia Gabriela & Belascu Lucian Aron, 2020. "FDIs and Commercial Balance in CEE Countries - Special Focus on the Manufacturing Economic Sectors. A VAR Analysis," International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR), Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH), Kavala Campus, Greece, vol. 13(2), pages 7-18, September.
    21. Dickey, David A & Fuller, Wayne A, 1981. "Likelihood Ratio Statistics for Autoregressive Time Series with a Unit Root," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(4), pages 1057-1072, June.
    22. Adina DORNEAN & Dumitru-Cristian OANEA, 2015. "Impact Of The Economic Crisis On Fdi In Central And Eastern Europe," Review of Economic and Business Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, issue 16, pages 53-68, December.
    23. Johansen, Soren, 1995. "Likelihood-Based Inference in Cointegrated Vector Autoregressive Models," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198774501, Decembrie.
    24. Ugo Fratesi & Fiona G. Wishlade, 2017. "The impact of European Cohesion Policy in different contexts," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(6), pages 817-821, June.
    25. Marco Percoco, 2017. "Impact of European Cohesion Policy on regional growth: does local economic structure matter?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(6), pages 833-843, June.
    26. 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.
    27. Levin, Andrew & Lin, Chien-Fu & James Chu, Chia-Shang, 2002. "Unit root tests in panel data: asymptotic and finite-sample properties," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 1-24, May.
    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. Jacobo Campo Robledo & Juan Pablo Herrera Saavedra, 2016. "Patentes y crecimiento económico: ¿innovación de residentes o no residentes?," Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad, Universidad de los Andes,Facultad de Economía, CEDE, vol. 76, February.
    2. Mohammad Sharif Karimi & Elham Heshmati Daiari, 2018. "Does Institutions Matter for Economic Development? Evidence for ASEAN Selected Countries," Iranian Economic Review (IER), Faculty of Economics,University of Tehran.Tehran,Iran, vol. 22(1), pages 1-20, Winter.
    3. Gogas, Periklis & Plakandaras, Vasilios & Papadimitriou, Theophilos, 2014. "Public debt and private consumption in OECD countries," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 11(C), pages 1-7.
    4. Amri, Fethi, 2016. "The relationship amongst energy consumption, foreign direct investment and output in developed and developing Countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 694-702.
    5. Hasanov, Fakhri & Bulut, Cihan & Suleymanov, Elchin, 2017. "Review of energy-growth nexus: A panel analysis for ten Eurasian oil exporting countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 369-386.
    6. Pourazarm, Elham & Cooray, Arusha, 2013. "Estimating and forecasting residential electricity demand in Iran," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 546-558.
    7. Samargandi, Nahla & Fidrmuc, Jan & Ghosh, Sugata, 2015. "Is the Relationship Between Financial Development and Economic Growth Monotonic? Evidence from a Sample of Middle-Income Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 66-81.
    8. Carlos Alberto Barreto Nieto & Jacobo Campo Robledo, 2012. "Relación a largo plazo entre consumo de energía y PIB en América Latina: Una evaluación empírica con datos panel," Revista Ecos de Economía, Universidad EAFIT, October.
    9. Moheddine Younsi & Marwa Bechtini & Mongi Lassoued, 2024. "The relationship between insurance development, population, economic growth, and health expenditures in OECD countries: a panel causality analysis," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-19, December.
    10. Maha Kalai & Nahed Zghidi, 2019. "Foreign Direct Investment, Trade, and Economic Growth in MENA Countries: Empirical Analysis Using ARDL Bounds Testing Approach," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 10(1), pages 397-421, March.
    11. Md Shahiduzzaman & Allan Layton & Khorshed Alam, 2015. "On the contribution of information and communication technology to productivity growth in Australia," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 281-304, November.
    12. Touitou Mohammed, 2021. "The Relationship Between Economic Growth, Energy Consumption and CO2 Emission in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)," Folia Oeconomica Stetinensia, Sciendo, vol. 21(2), pages 132-147, December.
    13. NAPO, Fousséni, 2018. "Capital humain, productivité manufacturière et croissance économique dans les pays de l’UEMOA [Human capital, manufacturing productivity and economic growth in WAEMU countries]," MPRA Paper 89450, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 12 Oct 2018.
    14. Franck Essosinam KARABOU & Komlan Ametowoyo ADEVE, 2018. "ICT and Economic Growth in WAEMU: An Analysis of Labor Productivity," Economics and Applied Informatics, "Dunarea de Jos" University of Galati, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, issue 2, pages 12-20.
    15. Mohammad Mafizur Rahman & Xuan-Binh (Benjamin) Vu & Son Nghiem, 2022. "Economic Growth in Six ASEAN Countries: Are Energy, Human Capital and Financial Development Playing Major Roles?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-17, April.
    16. Fahmida Khatun & Syed Yusuf Saadat, 2022. "The Optimum Level of Income Inequality in South Asia: An Econometric Analysis," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 23(1), pages 7-29, March.
    17. Mounir Belloumi & Atef Saad Alshehry, 2021. "The Causal Relationships Between Corruption, Investments and Economic Growth in GCC Countries," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, October.
    18. Maparu, Tuhin Subhra & Mazumder, Tarak Nath, 2021. "Investigating causality between transport infrastructure and urbanization: A state-level study of India (1991–2011)," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 46-55.
    19. Irwan Shah Zainal Abidin & Nor Aznin Abu Bakar & Muhammad Haseeb, 2014. "An Empirical Analysis of Exports between Malaysia and TPP Member Countries: Evidence from a Panel Cointegration (FMOLS) Model," Modern Applied Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 8(6), pages 238-238, December.
    20. Wilman-Santiago Ochoa-Moreno & Byron Alejandro Quito & Carlos Andrés Moreno-Hurtado, 2021. "Foreign Direct Investment and Environmental Quality: Revisiting the EKC in Latin American Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-18, November.

    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:spr:snbeco:v:5:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s43546-025-00798-8. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.