Foreign Investment And Its Effect On The Economic Growth Of Host Countries

Haskel, J.E., Pereira, S.C. & Slaughter, M.J. (2007) “Does inward foreign direct investment boost the productivity of domestic firms?”, Review of Economics & Statistics, 89 (3), August, pp. 482–496. [Online] Available at:

Within this frame, the literature considered in this overview assumes that FDI is good as a matter of fact. As Jensen puts it, foreign investment “is an engine of employment, technological progress, productivity improvements, and ultimately economic growth. FDI provides both physical capital and employment possibilities that may not be available in the host market. More importantly, FDI is a mechanism of technology transfer between countries, particularly to the less-developed nations” (Jensen, 2003: 587; See also Li & Resnick, 2003). However, the empirical research seems to provide contradictory results (Greenaway & Kneller, 2007; Moran, Graham, & Blomström, 2005) or the outcomes are at least un-informative (Rodrik, 2012). Would be necessary also to take into account to what extent incentives and subsidies offered

For example, a big corporation may choose to develop manufacturing business in a poorer country that has a comparative advantage in labor. Investors will benefit by utilizing the labor abundant workforce to meet the demands of competition, and the domestic country will experience dynamic growth from new technology, jobs, and human capital. Thus, global markets expand from FDI which is an effective source of economic development, especially in developing nations.

The year 2008 marked the end of a growth cycle in international investment that started in 2004 and saw world foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows reach a historic record of $1.9 trillion in 2007. Since then FDIs have been decreasing. The fall in global FDI in 2008–2009 is the result of two major factors affecting domestic as well as international investment. First, the capability of firms to invest has been reduced by a fall in access to financial resources, both internally – due to a decline in corporate profits – and externally – due to the lower availability and higher cost of finance. Second, the propensity to invest has been affected negatively by

Inward foreign investment is believed to boost the economic growth of host countries directly through employment creation and capital formation, and indirectly through knowledge, technology, and information spillovers. Multinationals have superior technologies, technical know-how, and managerial and marketing experiences than domestic firms. Similarly, exporting firms, domestic or foreign, have advantages over non-exporting firms regarding access to advanced technologies that are more productive and efficient. However, multinationals and exporters may not fully internalize the benefits of these assets. The benefits may spillover to domestic and non-exporting firms through market interactions, competition, and public nature of the assets.

〖FDI〗_. represents the foreign direct investment inflow into partner countries (in current USD). An inflow of cash will lead to a temporary financial solvency in recipient countries, which enables the consumers of those countries to buy more differentiated products. However, because it is a temporary cash inflow, the FDI inflow might have an inverse effect as well and therefore the predicted sign for this variable was indeterminate. The results of regression analysis indicate that the FDI coefficient is -0.03 which indicates a negative relationship with the logistic transformation of IIT, but the parameter estimate is statistically insignificant.

This paper analyzes why and how companies set their international business strategies with the host nations and the benefits that they have reaped through the years with their decision. The discussion handles foreign manufacturing strategies with direct investment and without direct investment, its advantages and disadvantages and how companies have profited by their decisions in each of the cases. At the end of the discussion it would be clear that how such business decisions play a vital role in the growth of the companies both in home and host countries

This book provided great insight regarding foreign direct investment (FDI) and it ability to stimulate domestic enterprises productivity. It contained specific research conducted in the Chinese economy and in relation to my research topic, identified and explored China receiving the largest FDI influx of developing economies since 1993. Particular interests and strength in this book:

Thus, the multinational corporation is intrinsically a force for progress in the sense that its very existence participates in the maximisation of profits by eliminating or reducing the harmful effects of market imperfections. Internalisation theory, and other mainstream theories of the multinational firm such as eclectic theory are useful in this analysis since they establish the nature of MNCs as behaving in a way that is the most efficient, and thus beneficial to them. If we accept that firms are beneficial to the world in that they create wealth, then MNCs are a force for progress. However, the buck stops here for these theories. Although they provide insight into the nature and behaviour of firms, mainstream theories of economics and international business do not provide any analysis of the consequences firms’ behaviour has on less developed countries (LDCs) and the world order . As we expand our definition of progress, or the field of the visible in terms of the harm that MNCs can cause, then a different picture is painted.

Developing countries lag behind the rest of the world in many aspects of life including economy, education, and welfare. Achieving progress in any of these three areas is important in getting these countries on par or at least closer to the standard of living present in developed nations. Numerous of hypotheses have been posed to tackle and address these issues. This paper examines the aspect of improving the economy and whether or not foreign direct investment by multinational corporations would benefit developing countries. Some may argue, including the renowned artist Frida Kahlo that foreign direct investments may actually lead to a decline in culture and exploitation. However, this paper argues that the economy in developing countries could be significantly improved by properly introducing foreign direct investment by multinational corporations. Foreign direct investment (FDI) made by multinational corporations would spur the economy in developing countries which in turn would lay the groundwork for improvements in other important aspects including education and welfare without a decline in culture and exploitation of citizens.

Trade and investment are highly connected that could be illustrated as two sides of the same coin. Companies conduct cross-border trade to supply their foreign investment, and they invest abroad to bolster their trade. Moreover, in the liberalisation era, while investors produce and consume both goods and services, an open trading system will provide a bright investment climate. Equally important, international trade and foreign investment have similar dominant actors through the presence of multinational enterprises.

Domestic firms in host countries can benefit from foreign firms through imitation and labour turnover which transfers managerial and production skills. However, foreign firms are more likely to pay higher wages than domestic firms. This would limit the spillovers from labour turnover. In addition, foreign firms are more likely to prevent technological spillovers to domestic firms to avoid competition.

Investment is defined as “an essential element for growth of the country and translate economy into a robust economy” (Hemadivya and Rama Devi). Investment is what makes changes in an economy. Equity is the residual interest of a company. Investors are investing their money into a company hoping that in return they will get more than what they invested. While there is time when there is a gain in an investment; there is also time when an investment ends in a loss. There are many factors that can influence the change of price of equity share, but according to Hemadivya and Rama Devi, supply and demand is the basic factors for price of equity share. When there is an increase in purchasing of stocks, then there is a demand of the stocks

To understand economic development, we have to look at it from more than the viewpoint of capital accumulation. The idea of Total Factor Productivity (TFP) plays a major role. TFP is the increase in the overall output without the increase in the level of input, allowing for

The other benefit of foreign investment is that it boosts competition in the host economy and, thus, prompts local businesses to seek greater efficiency in their operations. Besides this these multinational firms promote local businesses which supply inputs and or render services needed by them to support their operations. As a result of this, there will be a multiplier effect in terms of creation of employment opportunities.