IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/worlde/v42y2019i10p2835-2853.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Pitfalls in the use of foreign direct investment statistics

Author

Listed:
  • Clare O'Mahony
  • Frank Barry

Abstract

Foreign direct investment (FDI) statistics are widely used to study the impact of international capital movements and multinational enterprise (MNE) activities. FDI intensity is also an important indicator of globalisation and economic integration. Datasets spanning long time periods and with broad country coverage have been employed in numerous studies to analyse various aspects of the determinants and consequences of FDI. Focusing on a relatively homogeneous group of six Western European EU countries, the present study finds major inconsistencies in the construction and coverage of these data both through time and across countries, leading to large discrepancies. Asymmetries will be far greater for broader groups of more economically and institutionally diverse countries. This study recommends extreme caution in drawing conclusions based on FDI data.

Suggested Citation

  • Clare O'Mahony & Frank Barry, 2019. "Pitfalls in the use of foreign direct investment statistics," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(10), pages 2835-2853, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:worlde:v:42:y:2019:i:10:p:2835-2853
    DOI: 10.1111/twec.12836
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/twec.12836
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/twec.12836?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
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tania Gorcheva, 2020. "Processes Of Intelnationalization Of The Tourist Business In Bulgaria," Anniversary Scientific Conference with International Participation TOURISM AND CONNECTIVITY 2020, University publishing house "Science and Economics", University of Economics - Varna, issue 1, pages 259-265, October.
    2. Ofori, Isaac K. & Asongu, Simplice A., 2022. "Repackaging FDI for Inclusive Growth: Nullifying Effects and Policy Relevant Thresholds of Governance," MPRA Paper 111359, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Ibrahim A. Adekunle & Olumuyiwa G. Yinusa & Tolulope O. Williams & Rahmon A. Folami, 2021. "On the Determinant of Financial Development in Africa: Geography, Institutions and Macroeconomic Policy Relevance," Research Africa Network Working Papers 21/054, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    4. Francois Cornelius Wehncke & Patricia Lindelwa Makoni & Godfrey Marozva, 2022. "Nexus Between FDI, ODA and Economic Growth in Developing African Countries: A Systems Approach," Economic Research Guardian, Mutascu Publishing, vol. 12(2), pages 97-114, December.
    5. Ofori, Isaac K. & Asonngu, Simplice A., 2021. "Foreign Direct Investment, Governance and Inclusive Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa," MPRA Paper 108178, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Markus Leibrecht & Christian Bellak, 2023. "Investment policy reform as a driver of foreign direct investment: Evidence from China," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(4), pages 1035-1053, October.
    7. Oana Cristina POPOVICI & Adrian Cantemir CĂLIN & Diana IVANA & Sorin DAN, 2021. "FDI Determinants Revisited: Extensive Evidence," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(4), pages 103-123, December.
    8. Bellak, Christian & Leibrecht, Markus & Chaisse, Julien, 2022. "Reforming International Investment Agreements," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 328, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    9. Emma Serwaa Obobisa & Haibo Chen & Emmanuel Caesar Ayamba & Claudia Nyarko Mensah, 2021. "The Causal Relationship Between China-Africa Trade, China OFDI, and Economic Growth of African Countries," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, December.
    10. Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2022. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Spur Economic Growth? New Empirical Evidence From Sub-Saharan African Countries," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 67(233), pages 61-84, April – J.
    11. Christian Bellak & Markus Leibrecht & Julien Chaisse, 2022. "Reforming International Investment Agreements: The Case of China and Foreign Direct Investment," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp328, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    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:bla:worlde:v:42:y:2019:i:10:p:2835-2853. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0378-5920 .

    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.