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Outward foreign direct investment and domestic performance : In search of a causal link

Author

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  • Emmanuel Dhyne

    (Research Department - National Bank of Belgium and Université de Mons)

  • Selen Sarisoy Guerin

    (Corresponding author, Trinity College Dublin)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine causal effects of outward foreign direct investment activities of corporations that start expanding abroad on a large number of domestic performance indicators. Our results indicate that there is no evidence in our data to show that FDI has statistically significant impact on productivity, employment and output. The only statistically significant result indicates that FDI causes positive growth in export intensity. On the other hand when we restrict our sample to Belgian manufacturing firms only, we do find that switching to OFDI causes a positive growth in TFP. This effect is coupled with an increase in wages and exports. On the other hand, we do not find any statistically significant evidence that internationalization of Belgian firms causes loss of employment for the unskilled worker as in other studies

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbb:reswpp:201410-272
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    2. C. Duprez & Ch. Van Nieuwenhuyze, 2016. "Belgium’s inward and outward foreign direct investment," Economic Review, National Bank of Belgium, issue ii, pages 45-62, september.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    multinational firms; propensity score matching; difference-in-differences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General

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