IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/tuddps/0908.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The effect of exchange rate risk on US foreign direct investment: an empirical analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Schmidt, Christian W.
  • Broll, Udo

Abstract

This paper empirically analyzes the impact of exchange rate uncertainty, exchange rate movements and expectations on foreign direct investment (FDI). Two competing specifications of exchange rate volatility are examined. The investigation is based on a cross-section time-series data set of U.S. outward FDI by industries to six major partner countries for the period 1984-2004. Using the standard deviation of the real exchange rate as a measure of risk it is found that exchange rate uncertainty has a discouraging effect on FDI flows across all industries. This is contrasted when applying an alternative risk specification defined as the unexplained part of real exchange rate volatility. Now, results show a clear distinction between non-manufacturing and manufacturing industries. U.S. FDI outflows in nonmanufacturing industries exhibit a positive correlation with increased exchange risk, whereas this relationship is negative for manufacturing industries in the underlying sample. A real appreciation of host-country currency was associated with higher FDI flows, while expectations about an appreciation showed a negative result.

Suggested Citation

  • Schmidt, Christian W. & Broll, Udo, 2008. "The effect of exchange rate risk on US foreign direct investment: an empirical analysis," Dresden Discussion Paper Series in Economics 09/08, Technische Universität Dresden, Faculty of Business and Economics, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:tuddps:0908
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/36481/1/590243772.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Engel, Charles & Rogers, John H, 1996. "How Wide Is the Border?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(5), pages 1112-1125, December.
    2. Klein, Michael W. & Rosengren, Eric, 1994. "The real exchange rate and foreign direct investment in the United States : Relative wealth vs. relative wage effects," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(3-4), pages 373-389, May.
    3. Bruce A. Blonigen, 2019. "Firm-Specific Assets and the Link Between Exchange Rates and Foreign Direct Investment," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foreign Direct Investment, chapter 3, pages 89-120, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    4. Shujiro Urata & Hiroki Kawai, 2000. "The Determinants of the Location of Foreign Direct Investment by Japanese Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (in Japanese)," Economic Analysis, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), vol. 158, pages 3-21, January.
    5. Kenneth A. Froot & Jeremy C. Stein, 1991. "Exchange Rates and Foreign Direct Investment: An Imperfect Capital Markets Approach," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(4), pages 1191-1217.
    6. Aizenman, Joshua & Marion, Nancy, 2004. "The merits of horizontal versus vertical FDI in the presence of uncertainty," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 125-148, January.
    7. Nigel Pain & Desirée Van Welsum, 2003. "Untying The Gordian Knot: The Multiple Links Between Exchange Rates and Foreign Direct Investment," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5), pages 823-846, December.
    8. Takatoshi Ito, 2000. "Capital Flows in Asia," NBER Chapters, in: Capital Flows and the Emerging Economies: Theory, Evidence, and Controversies, pages 255-296, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Benassy-Quere, AgnEs & Fontagne, Lionel & LahrEche-Revil, Amina, 2001. "Exchange-Rate Strategies in the Competition for Attracting Foreign Direct Investment," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 178-198, June.
    10. Takao Itagaki, 1981. "The Theory of the Multinational Firm under Exchange Rate Uncertainty," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 14(2), pages 276-297, May.
    11. Sebastian Edwards, 2000. "Capital Flows and the Emerging Economies: Theory, Evidence, and Controversies," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number edwa00-1.
    12. Holger Görg & Katharine Wakelin, 2002. "The Impact of Exchange Rate Volatility on US Direct Investment," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 70(3), pages 380-397, June.
    13. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, April.
    14. Capel, Jeannette, 1992. "How to service a foreign market under uncertainty: A real option approach," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 455-475, October.
    15. Broll, Udo & Zilcha, Itzhak, 1992. "Exchange rate uncertainty, futures markets and the multinational firm," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 815-826, May.
    16. Hooper, Peter & Kohlhagen, Steven W., 1978. "The effect of exchange rate uncertainty on the prices and volume of international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 483-511, November.
    17. Lucrezia Reichlin, 1999. "Real capital market integration in the EU: how far has it gone? What will the effect of the euro be? discussion," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/10203, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    18. repec:bla:manchs:v:70:y:2002:i:3:p:380-97 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Urata, Shujiro & Kawai, Hiroki, 2000. "The Determinants of the Location of Foreign Direct Investment by Japanese Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 79-103, September.
    20. Goldberg, Linda S & Kolstad, Charles D, 1995. "Foreign Direct Investment, Exchange Rate Variability and Demand Uncertainty," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 36(4), pages 855-873, November.
    21. Chowdhury, Abdur R, 1993. "Does Exchange Rate Volatility Depress Trade Flows? Evidence from Error-Correction Models," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 75(4), pages 700-706, November.
    22. Pozo, Susan, 1992. "Conditional Exchange-Rate Volatility and the Volume of International Trade: Evidence from the Early 1900s," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 74(2), pages 325-329, May.
    23. Pietra Rivoli & Eugene Salorio, 1996. "Foreign Direct Investment and Investment under Uncertainty," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 27(2), pages 335-357, June.
    24. Cushman, David O, 1985. "Real Exchange Rate Risk, Expectations, and the Level of Direct Investment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 67(2), pages 297-308, May.
    25. Kozo Kiyota & Shujiro Urata, 2004. "Exchange Rate, Exchange Rate Volatility and Foreign Direct Investment," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(10), pages 1501-1536, November.
    26. Broll, Udo F, 1992. "The Effect of Forward Markets on Multinational Firms," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(3), pages 233-240, July.
    27. Avinash Dixit, 1989. "Hysteresis, Import Penetration, and Exchange Rate Pass-Through," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 104(2), pages 205-228.
    28. Campa, Joe Manuel, 1993. "Entry by Foreign Firms in the United States under Exchange Rate Uncertainty," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 75(4), pages 614-622, November.
    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. Yu Ma & Xinqian Du, 2022. "Exchange rate factors, income levels, and investment abroad: An empirical study based on a sample of emerging economies," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2), pages 1711-1730, April.
    2. Rambeli@Ramli, Norimah & Hashim, Emilda & Hashim, Asmawi & Affizzah Awang Marikan, Dayang & Podivinsky, Jan, 2017. "Empirical Analysis on Exchange Rate Fluctuation and Sectoral Stock Returns in Malaysia," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 51(1), pages 31-38.
    3. Zerin Jannat, 2020. "The Impact of Exchange Rate Volatility on Foreign Direct Investment Inflows: Evidence from South Asia," International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, vol. 10(3), pages 101-116.

    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. Christian Schmidt & Udo Broll, 2009. "Real exchange-rate uncertainty and US foreign direct investment: an empirical analysis," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 145(3), pages 513-530, October.
    2. Matthias Busse & Carsten Hefeker & Signe Nelgen, 2013. "Foreign Direct Investment and Exchange Rate Regimes," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(1), pages 843-858.
    3. Shi Li & Hironobu Nakagawa, 2022. "Exchange rates and foreign direct investment: Evidence from Chinese firm‐level data," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(9), pages 2902-2923, September.
    4. Takagi, Shinji & Shi, Zongying, 2011. "Exchange rate movements and foreign direct investment (FDI): Japanese investment in Asia, 1987–2008," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 265-272.
    5. Lee, Bong-Soo & Min, Byung S., 2011. "Exchange rates and FDI strategies of multinational enterprises," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 586-603, November.
    6. Chia‐Ching Lin & Kun‐Ming Chen, 2022. "Market competition, exchange rate uncertainty, and foreign direct investment," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 405-422, February.
    7. Chiara Franco & Francesco Rentocchini & Giuseppe Vittucci Marzetti, 2008. "Why do firms invest abroad? An analysis of the motives underlying Foreign Direct Investments," Department of Economics Working Papers 0817, Department of Economics, University of Trento, Italia.
    8. Nicholas Apergis & Dimitrios Asteriou & Kalliroi Papathoma, 2013. "The Explanatory Variables of Outward Foreign Direct Investment: Panel Evidence," American Journal of Economics and Business Administration, Science Publications, vol. 4(4), pages 207-215, July.
    9. Qi, Jianhong & Liu, Hui & Zhang, Zhaoyong, 2021. "Exchange rate uncertainty and the timing of Chinese Outward Direct Investment," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 1193-1204.
    10. Phillips, Shauna & Ahmadi-Esfahani, Fredoun Z., 2008. "Exchange Rates and Foreign Direct Investment: Theoretical Models and Empirical Evidence," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 54(4), pages 1-21.
    11. Rajesh Chakrabarti & Barry Scholnick, 2002. "Exchange rate expectations and foreign direct investment flows," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 138(1), pages 1-21, March.
    12. Maroula Khraiche & Jeffrey Gaudette, 2013. "FDI, Exchange Rate Volatility and Financial Development: Regional Differences In Emerging Economies," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(4), pages 3143-3156.
    13. Arbeláez, Harvey & Ruiz, Isabel, 2013. "Macroeconomic antecedents to U.S. investment in Latin America," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 439-447.
    14. Lord Mensah & Godfred Alufar Bokpin & Eric Dei Fosu-Hene, 2017. "Foreign exchange rate moments and FDI in Ghana," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 41(1), pages 136-152, January.
    15. Shauna Phillips & Fredoun Z. Ahmadi-Esfahani, 2008. "Exchange rates and foreign direct investment: theoretical models and empirical evidence ," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 52(4), pages 505-525, December.
    16. Adil Suliman & Khaled Elmawazini & Mohammed Zakaullah Shariff, 2015. "Exchange rates and foreign direct investment: evidence for sub-saharan Africa," Journal of Developing Areas, Tennessee State University, College of Business, vol. 49(2), pages 204-226, April-Jun.
    17. Russ, Katheryn Niles, 2007. "The endogeneity of the exchange rate as a determinant of FDI: A model of entry and multinational firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 344-372, April.
    18. Kun‐Ming CHEN & Hsiu‐Hua RAU & Chia‐Ching LIN, 2006. "The Impact Of Exchange Rate Movements On Foreign Direct Investment: Market‐Oriented Versus Cost‐Oriented," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 44(3), pages 269-287, September.
    19. Alali, Walid Y. & Ellalee, Haider, 2018. "The Brexit Impact on Inward FDI in the UK," EconStor Preprints 274655, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    20. Osei-Fosu & Baba Insah Anthony & Ofori-Boateng Kenneth, 2015. "Real Exchange Rate Volatility and Foreign Direct Investment Inflows: The Ghanaian Experience," International Journal of Empirical Finance, Research Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 4(6), pages 336-344.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Foreign direct investment; real exchange rate risk; volatility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business

    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:zbw:tuddps:0908. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/pltudde.html .

    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.