IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/emx/esteco/v33y2018i1p117-149.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of uncertainty on foreign direct investment: The case of Mexico

Author

Listed:
  • Gabriela López Noria

    (Banco de México)

  • Juan José Zamudio Fernández

    (Banco de México)

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of uncertainty on FDI flows into the Mexican manufacturing sector during the period 2007-2015. Using a panel of manufacturing subsectors, we estimate a model by System GMM that includes domestic and external factors, as well as idiosyncratic and aggregate uncertainty measures as explicative variables. We also performsome simulations to assess the size of the uncertainty effect on FDI flows. The main results show that uncertainty discourages FDI flows into the Mexican manufacturing sector during this period. We also find that idiosyncratic uncertainty measures are more important in explaining FDI flows than aggregate uncertainty measures.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabriela López Noria & Juan José Zamudio Fernández, 2018. "The effect of uncertainty on foreign direct investment: The case of Mexico," Estudios Económicos, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos, vol. 33(1), pages 117-149.
    • Handle: RePEc:emx:esteco:v:33:y:2018:i:1:p:117-149
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://estudioseconomicos.colmex.mx/index.php/economicos/article/view/355/358
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Guillermo A. Calvo & Leonardo Leiderman & Carmen M. Reinhart, 1996. "Inflows of Capital to Developing Countries in the 1990s," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 10(2), pages 123-139, Spring.
    2. Adugna Lemi & Sisay Asefa, 2003. "Foreign Direct Investment and Uncertainty: Empirical Evidence from Africa," The African Finance Journal, Africagrowth Institute, vol. 5(1), pages 36-67.
    3. Luigi Guiso & Giuseppe Parigi, 1999. "Investment and Demand Uncertainty," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(1), pages 185-227.
    4. Nick Bloom & Stephen Bond & John Van Reenen, 2007. "Uncertainty and Investment Dynamics," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 74(2), pages 391-415.
    5. Nucci, Francesco & Pozzolo, Alberto Franco, 2010. "The exchange rate, employment and hours: What firm-level data say," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 112-123, November.
    6. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    7. David Roodman, 2009. "How to do xtabond2: An introduction to difference and system GMM in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 9(1), pages 86-136, March.
    8. Avinash K. Dixit & Robert S. Pindyck, 1994. "Investment under Uncertainty," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 5474.
    9. Leahy, John V & Whited, Toni M, 1996. "The Effect of Uncertainty on Investment: Some Stylized Facts," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 28(1), pages 64-83, February.
    10. Barry Eichengreen & Hui Tong, 2007. "Is China’s FDI Coming at the Expense of Other Countries?," Chapters, in: Klaus Liebscher & Josef Christl & Peter Mooslechner & Doris Ritzberger-Grünwald (ed.), Foreign Direct Investment in Europe, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Ghosal, Vivek & Loungani, Prakash, 1996. "Product Market Competition and the Impact of Price Uncertainty on Investment: Some Evidence from US Manufacturing Industries," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(2), pages 217-228, June.
    12. Episcopos, Athanasios, 1995. "Evidence on the relationship between uncertainty and irreversible investment," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 41-52.
    13. Pindyck, Robert S, 1988. "Irreversible Investment, Capacity Choice, and the Value of the Firm," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(5), pages 969-985, December.
    14. Yung-Hsiang Ying & Yoonbai Kim, 2001. "An Empirical Analysis on Capital Flows: The Case of Korea and Mexico," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 67(4), pages 954-968, April.
    15. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    16. Caballero, Ricardo J & Pindyck, Robert S, 1996. "Uncertainty, Investment, and Industry Evolution," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 37(3), pages 641-662, August.
    17. Alan Carruth & Andy Dickerson & Andrew Henley, 2000. "What do We Know About Investment Under Uncertainty?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(2), pages 119-154, April.
    18. Bruce A. Blonigen & Miao Wang, 2004. "Inappropriate Pooling of Wealthy and Poor Countries in Empirical FDI Studies," NBER Working Papers 10378, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Hartman, Richard, 1972. "The effects of price and cost uncertainty on investment," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 258-266, October.
    20. Jacob A. Jordaan, 2012. "Agglomeration and the location choice of foreign direct investment: new evidence from manufacturing FDI in Mexico," Estudios Económicos, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos, vol. 27(1), pages 61-97.
    21. Ferderer, J Peter, 1993. "The Impact of Uncertainty on Aggregate Investment Spending: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 25(1), pages 30-48, February.
    22. repec:bla:jecsur:v:14:y:2000:i:2:p:119-53 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Humberto Valencia Herrera & Gándara Martínez, Eduardo Enrique, 2009. "Relación entre encertidumbre e inversión en México: enfoque de opciones reales," Revista de Administración, Finanzas y Economía (Journal of Management, Finance and Economics), Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Ciudad de México, vol. 3(2), pages 74-90.
    24. David Roodman, 2006. "How to Do xtabond2," North American Stata Users' Group Meetings 2006 8, Stata Users Group.
    25. Ulf von Kalckreuth, 2003. "Exploring the role of uncertainty for corporate investment decisions in Germany," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 139(II), pages 173-206, June.
    26. Abel, Andrew B, 1983. "Optimal Investment under Uncertainty," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(1), pages 228-233, March.
    27. Mollick Andre Varella & Ramos-Duran Rene & Silva-Ochoa Esteban, 2006. "Infrastructure and FDI Inflows into Mexico: A Panel Data Approach," Global Economy Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 6(1), pages 1-27, February.
    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. Abdalwali Lutfi & Maryam Ashraf & Waqas Ahmad Watto & Mahmaod Alrawad, 2022. "Do Uncertainty and Financial Development Influence the FDI Inflow of a Developing Nation? A Time Series ARDL Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-11, October.
    2. Bush, Georgia & López Noria, Gabriela, 2021. "Uncertainty and exchange rate volatility: Evidence from Mexico," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 704-722.
    3. Miaozhi Yu & Na Wang, 2023. "The Influence of Geopolitical Risk on International Direct Investment and Its Countermeasures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-14, January.
    4. Mario Canales & Bernabe Lopez-Martin, 2021. "Uncertainty, Risk, and Price-Setting: Evidence from CPI Microdata," Working Papers Central Bank of Chile 908, Central Bank of Chile.
    5. Azzouzi Asmae & Bousselhami Ahmed, 2019. "Impact of the Exchange Rate and Price Volatility on FDI Inflows: Case of Morocco and Turkey," Applied Economics and Finance, Redfame publishing, vol. 6(3), pages 87-104, May.
    6. López Noria Gabriela & Bush Georgia, 2019. "Uncertainty and Exchange Rate Volatility: the Case of Mexico," Working Papers 2019-12, Banco de México.

    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. López Noria Gabriela & Zamudio Fernández Juan José, 2018. "The Effect of Uncertainty on Foreign Direct Investment: the Case of Mexico," Working Papers 2018-03, Banco de México.
    2. Mohn, Klaus & Misund, Bård, 2009. "Investment and uncertainty in the international oil and gas industry," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 240-248, March.
    3. Henriques, Irene & Sadorsky, Perry, 2011. "The effect of oil price volatility on strategic investment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 79-87, January.
    4. Catherine Fuss & Philip Vermeulen, 2008. "Firms' investment decisions in response to demand and price uncertainty," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(18), pages 2337-2351.
    5. Bontempi, Maria Elena & Golinelli, Roberto & Parigi, Giuseppe, 2010. "Why demand uncertainty curbs investment: Evidence from a panel of Italian manufacturing firms," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 218-238, March.
    6. Ahsan Abbas & Eatzaz Ahmed & Fazal Husain, 2019. "Political and Economic Uncertainty and Investment Behaviour in Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 58(3), pages 307-331.
    7. Magda Bianco & Maria Bontempi & Roberto Golinelli & Giuseppe Parigi, 2013. "Family firms’ investments, uncertainty and opacity," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 1035-1058, May.
    8. Li, Guangzhong & Li, Jie & Wu, Yangru, 2019. "Exchange rate uncertainty and firm-level investment: Finding the Hartman–Abel effect," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 441-457.
    9. Marina Riem, 2016. "Corporate investment decisions under political uncertainty," ifo Working Paper Series 221, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    10. Hjalmar Böhm & Michael Funke & Nikolaus A. Siegfried, 1999. "Discovering the Link between Uncertainty and Investment - Microeconometric Evidence from Germany," Quantitative Macroeconomics Working Papers 19906, Hamburg University, Department of Economics.
    11. Panagiotidis, Theodore & Printzis, Panagiotis, 2020. "What is the investment loss due to uncertainty?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    12. Kaido Kepp & Kadri Männasoo, 2021. "Investment irreversibility and cyclical adversity: Implications for the financial performance of European manufacturing companies," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(7), pages 1665-1678, October.
    13. Laarni T. Bulan, 2005. "Real options, irreversible investment and firm uncertainty: New evidence from U.S. firms," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(3-4), pages 255-279.
    14. Muhammad Arif Khan & Xuezhi Qin & Khalil Jebran & Abdul Rashid, 2020. "The Sensitivity of Firms’ Investment to Uncertainty and Cash Flow: Evidence From Listed State-Owned Enterprises and Non-State-Owned Enterprises in China," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(1), pages 21582440209, January.
    15. Anubha Dhasmana, 2021. "Employment growth in the face of exchange rate uncertainty: The role of trade and foreign equity finance," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 88(1), pages 79-117, July.
    16. Caixe, Daniel Ferreira, 2022. "Corporate governance and investment sensitivity to policy uncertainty in Brazil," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(PB).
    17. Klaus Gugler & Mario Liebensteiner & Adhurim Haxhimusa & Nora Schindler, 2016. "Investment under Uncertainty in Electricity Generation," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp234, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.
    18. Ulf von Kalckreuth, 2003. "Exploring the role of uncertainty for corporate investment decisions in Germany," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 139(II), pages 173-206, June.
    19. repec:dgr:rugsom:00e44 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Paul Butzen & Catherine Fuss & Philip Vermeulen, 2002. "The impact of uncertainty on investment plans," Working Paper Research 24, National Bank of Belgium.
    21. Bulan, Laarni T., 2005. "Real options, irreversible investment and firm uncertainty: New evidence from U.S. firms," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3-4), pages 255-279.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    uncertainty; foreign direct investment; expectations; manufacturing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D80 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - General
    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • D84 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Expectations; Speculations
    • L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General

    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:emx:esteco:v:33:y:2018:i:1:p:117-149. 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: Ximena Varela (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cecolmx.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.