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Does foreign direct investment expand the capability set in the host economy? A sectoral analysis

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  • Peter Kannen

Abstract

Most empirical studies examining the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on economic development use aggregate monetary‐based measures such as GDP or TFP growth as indicators for development. We deviate from this approach and use instead the recently developed economic complexity index; this measure summarises the complexity of the productive structure of an economy, and its values can be interpreted as the number of capabilities present in a country. These capabilities are units of productive knowledge necessary for the production of goods, and goods differ in the number of necessary capabilities. Furthermore, we use sectoral FDI data to take differences between sectors of an economy into account, since the number of necessary capabilities also varies between the sectors. In our empirical analysis, covering 63 developing and developed countries over the period 2005–14, we find that FDI in the tertiary sector has a statistically significant and robust positive effect on the number of capabilities, whereas FDI in the primary and secondary sectors generally does not increase the capability set of an economy.

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  • Peter Kannen, 2020. "Does foreign direct investment expand the capability set in the host economy? A sectoral analysis," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(2), pages 428-457, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:worlde:v:43:y:2020:i:2:p:428-457
    DOI: 10.1111/twec.12869
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    1. Mathurin Aimé Mekam Pouatcha & Marilena Giannetti & Elton Beqiraj, 2024. "The relationship between FDI and population health in Sub-Saharan Africa: The role of per-capita income," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 44(2), pages 557-570.
    2. Arif, Imran, 2021. "Productive knowledge, economic sophistication, and labor share," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    3. Hazwan Haini & Pauline Tan, 2022. "Re‐examining the impact of sectoral‐ and industrial‐level FDI on growth: Does institutional quality, education levels and trade openness matter?," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(3), pages 410-435, September.
    4. Avom, Désiré & Keneck-Massil, Joseph & Njangang, Henri & Nvuh-Njoya, Youssouf, 2022. "Why are some resource-rich countries more sophisticated than others? The role of the regime type and political ideology," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    5. Ridha Nouira & Sami Saafi, 2022. "What Drives the Relationship Between Export Upgrading and Growth? The Role of Human Capital, Institutional Quality, and Economic Development," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(3), pages 1944-1961, September.
    6. Lapatinas, Athanasios & Litina, Anastasia & Zanaj, Skerdilajda, 2020. "Environmental Culture and Economic Complexity," MPRA Paper 105067, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Henri Njangang & Youssouf Nvuh-Njoya, 2023. "Unravelling the link between democracy and economic complexity: fresh evidence from the Varieties of Democracy data," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 1-32, March.
    8. Isaac Ketu & Jules-Eric Tchapchet Tchouto & Arsene Mouongue Kelly, 2022. "Does infrastructure development drive economic complexity in African countries?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 42(4), pages 2043-2053.
    9. Brice Kamguia & Sosson Tadadjeu & Clovis Miamo & Henri Njangang, 2022. "Does foreign aid impede economic complexity in developing countries?," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 169, pages 71-88.
    10. Nguyen, Canh Phuc, 2022. "Does economic complexity matter for the shadow economy?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 210-227.
    11. Athanasios Lapatinas & Anastasia Litina & Skerdilajda Zanaj, 2021. "The Impact of Economic Complexity on the Formation of Environmental Culture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-25, January.
    12. Ashraf, Junaid, 2022. "Do political instability, financial instability and environmental degradation undermine growth? Evidence from belt and road initiative countries," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 44(6), pages 1113-1127.
    13. Nguyen, Canh Phuc, 2021. "Gender equality and economic complexity," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 45(4).
    14. Trung V. Vu, 2022. "Does institutional quality foster economic complexity? The fundamental drivers of productive capabilities," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(3), pages 1571-1604, September.
    15. Njangang, Henri & Asongu, Simplice & Tadadjeu, Sosson & Nounamo, Yann, 2021. "Is financial development shaping or shaking economic sophistication in African countries?," MPRA Paper 110132, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Brice Kamguia & Joseph Keneck‐Massil & Henri Njangang & Sosson Tadadjeu, 2024. "Sophistication gap between countries: The effect of research and development expenditure," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(3), pages 739-778, July.
    17. Brahim Bergougui & Syed Mansoob Murshed, 2023. "Spillover effects of FDI inflows on output growth: An analysis of aggregate and disaggregated FDI inflows of 13 MENA economies," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(4), pages 668-692, December.
    18. Keneck-Massil, Joseph & Nvuh-Njoya, Youssouf, 2021. "Did colonisation matter for comparative economic complexity?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    19. Fahim Al Marhubi, 2021. "Economic Complexity and Inflation: An Empirical Analysis," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 49(3), pages 259-271, September.
    20. Tamás Krisztin & Philipp Piribauer, 2023. "A joint spatial econometric model for regional FDI and output growth," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 102(1), pages 87-106, February.
    21. Liu, Haiyue & Wang, Cangyu & Zhang, Qin & Wang, Yile, 2024. "The impact of Chinese overseas industrial parks on the productive capability of BRI host countries," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    22. Honoré Tekam Oumbé & Ronald Djeunankan & Alain Mekia Ndzana, 2023. "Does information and communication technologies affect economic complexity?," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(4), pages 1-25, April.

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