IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i6p2839-d514655.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Foreign Direct Investment’s Impact on China’s Economic Growth, Technological Innovation and Pollution

Author

Listed:
  • Shihong Zeng

    (Department of Applied Financial Economics, College of Economics & Management, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
    Finance and Economics Development Research Center, College of Economics & Management, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China)

  • Ya Zhou

    (Department of Applied Financial Economics, College of Economics & Management, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
    Finance and Economics Development Research Center, College of Economics & Management, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China)

Abstract

In recent years, China has gradually become one of the countries with the largest levels of foreign direct investment (FDI). FDI has played a significant role in promoting Chinese economic development, and the FDI technology spillover effect is one of the core forces driving China towards reaching new growth milestones. Therefore, due to the country’s interest in development, there is competition for FDI throughout China. However, the existing imperfect environmental protection system cannot prevent FDI from flowing into China’s highly polluting and resource-intensive industrial chain, possibly causing serious environmental problems. Therefore, the topic of properly introducing foreign capital to promote development and effectively end China’s current environmental pollution crisis has become a research focus. To explore FDI’s impact on China’s economic growth, technological innovation, and environmental pollution, we use Chinese provincial panel data for 2004–2016 to construct a dynamic panel simultaneous-equation model. Considering the interrelationships between the equations, we construct economic models of economic growth, technological innovation, and pollution emissions, and incorporate them into the same research system for generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation. Our results show that FDI has a significant and positive direct impact on China’s economic growth and technological innovation, and can furthermore have a significant pull effect on the domestic economy through the backward spillover channel. At the same time, FDI has a direct and significant impact on the increase in regional waste-water discharge, while exhibiting a pollution halo effect on the emission of sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) emissions directly. In addition, we observe “benign feedback mechanism” between technological innovation output and these three types of pollution, namely SO 2 emission, COD emissions, and ammonia and nitrogen discharge.

Suggested Citation

  • Shihong Zeng & Ya Zhou, 2021. "Foreign Direct Investment’s Impact on China’s Economic Growth, Technological Innovation and Pollution," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-24, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:6:p:2839-:d:514655
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/6/2839/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/6/2839/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Romer, Paul M, 1986. "Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(5), pages 1002-1037, October.
    2. Paramati, Sudharshan Reddy & Ummalla, Mallesh & Apergis, Nicholas, 2016. "The effect of foreign direct investment and stock market growth on clean energy use across a panel of emerging market economies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 29-41.
    3. Belloumi, Mounir, 2014. "The relationship between trade, FDI and economic growth in Tunisia: An application of the autoregressive distributed lag model," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 269-287.
    4. Liu, Qing & Qiu, Larry D., 2016. "Intermediate input imports and innovations: Evidence from Chinese firms' patent filings," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 166-183.
    5. Calin-Adrian Comes & Elena Bunduchi & Valentina Vasile & Daniel Stefan, 2018. "The Impact of Foreign Direct Investments and Remittances on Economic Growth: A Case Study in Central and Eastern Europe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-16, January.
    6. Riccardo Crescenzi & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Michael Storper, 2012. "The territorial dynamics of innovation in China and India," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(5), pages 1055-1085, September.
    7. Vo, Duc, 2019. "The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on Environment Degradation: Evidence from Emerging Markets in Asia," MPRA Paper 103292, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Kemeny, Thomas, 2010. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Drive Technological Upgrading?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 1543-1554, November.
    9. Gutiérrez-Portilla, Paula & Maza, Adolfo & Villaverde, José, 2019. "A spatial approach to the FDI-growth nexus in Spain: Dealing with the headquarters effect," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 1-1.
    10. Ahmed, Elsadig Musa, 2012. "Are the FDI inflow spillover effects on Malaysia's economic growth input driven?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 1498-1504.
    11. Wang, Jian & Wang, Xiao, 2015. "Benefits of foreign ownership: Evidence from foreign direct investment in China," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 325-338.
    12. 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.
    13. Barrell, Ray & Nahhas, Abdulkader, 2018. "Economic integration and bilateral FDI stocks: the impacts of NAFTA and the EU," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 90372, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Su Li & Antonio Angelino & Haitao Yin & Francesca Spigarelli, 2017. "Determinants of FDI Localization in China: A County-Level Analysis for the Pharmaceutical Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-20, August.
    15. Sasidharan, Subash & Kathuria, Vinish, 2011. "Foreign Direct Investment and R&D: Substitutes or Complements--A Case of Indian Manufacturing after 1991 Reforms," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 1226-1239, July.
    16. Anh Hoang To & Dao Thi-Thieu Ha & Ha Minh Nguyen & Duc Hong Vo, 2019. "The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on Environment Degradation: Evidence from Emerging Markets in Asia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-24, May.
    17. Hongfeng Peng & Xiaoyu Tan & Yanli Li & Liqin Hu, 2016. "Economic Growth, Foreign Direct Investment and CO 2 Emissions in China: A Panel Granger Causality Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-13, March.
    18. Nicolae Gârleanu & Stavros Panageas & Jianfeng Yu, 2012. "Technological Growth and Asset Pricing," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(4), pages 1265-1292, August.
    19. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Balsalobre-Lorente, Daniel & Sinha, Avik, 2019. "Foreign Direct Investment–CO2 Emissions Nexus in Middle East and North African countries: Importance of Biomass Energy Consumption," MPRA Paper 91729, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 19 Jan 2019.
    20. Tang, Chor Foon & Tan, Bee Wah, 2015. "The impact of energy consumption, income and foreign direct investment on carbon dioxide emissions in Vietnam," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 447-454.
    21. Abdouli, Mohamed & Hammami, Sami, 2017. "Investigating the causality links between environmental quality, foreign direct investment and economic growth in MENA countries," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 264-278.
    22. Wang, Cassandra C. & Wu, Aiqi, 2016. "Geographical FDI knowledge spillover and innovation of indigenous firms in China," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 895-906.
    23. Robert E. Hall & Charles I. Jones, 1999. "Why do Some Countries Produce So Much More Output Per Worker than Others?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(1), pages 83-116.
    24. Wei, Zixiang & Han, Botang & Pan, Xiuzhen & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Zafar, Muhammad Wasif, 2020. "Effects of diversified openness channels on the total-factor energy efficiency in China's manufacturing sub-sectors: Evidence from trade and FDI spillovers," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    25. Liu, Yiming & Hao, Yu & Gao, Yixuan, 2017. "The environmental consequences of domestic and foreign investment: Evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 271-280.
    26. Orlic, Edvard & Hashi, Iraj & Hisarciklilar, Mehtap, 2018. "Cross sectoral FDI spillovers and their impact on manufacturing productivity," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 777-796.
    27. Beata Smarzynska Javorcik, 2004. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Increase the Productivity of Domestic Firms? In Search of Spillovers Through Backward Linkages," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 605-627, June.
    28. Bekhet, Hussain Ali & Latif, Nurul Wahilah Abdul, 2018. "The impact of technological innovation and governance institution quality on Malaysia's sustainable growth: Evidence from a dynamic relationship," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 27-40.
    29. Wen, Jun & Yang, Di & Feng, Gen-Fu & Dong, Minyi & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2018. "Venture capital and innovation in China: The non-linear evidence," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 148-162.
    30. Yang, Zhenbing & Shao, Shuai & Yang, Lili & Miao, Zhuang, 2018. "Improvement pathway of energy consumption structure in China's industrial sector: From the perspective of directed technical change," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 166-176.
    31. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Nasir, Muhammad Ali & Roubaud, David, 2018. "Environmental degradation in France: The effects of FDI, financial development, and energy innovations," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 843-857.
    32. Hu, Gang-Gao, 2021. "Is knowledge spillover from human capital investment a catalyst for technological innovation? The curious case of fourth industrial revolution in BRICS economies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    33. Jerzmanowski, Michal, 2007. "Total factor productivity differences: Appropriate technology vs. efficiency," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(8), pages 2080-2110, November.
    34. Lee, Jung Wan, 2013. "The contribution of foreign direct investment to clean energy use, carbon emissions and economic growth," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 483-489.
    35. Wang, Juan & Zhang, Sulan & Zhang, Qingjun, 2021. "The relationship of renewable energy consumption to financial development and economic growth in China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 897-904.
    36. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Nasreen, Samia & Abbas, Faisal & Anis, Omri, 2015. "Does foreign direct investment impede environmental quality in high-, middle-, and low-income countries?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 275-287.
    37. Shujing Yue & Yang Yang & Yaoyu Hu, 2016. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Affect Green Growth? Evidence from China’s Experience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-14, February.
    38. Omri, Anis & Kahouli, Bassem, 2014. "Causal relationships between energy consumption, foreign direct investment and economic growth: Fresh evidence from dynamic simultaneous-equations models," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 913-922.
    39. Peter J. Klenow & Andrés Rodríguez-Clare, 1997. "The Neoclassical Revival in Growth Economics: Has It Gone Too Far?," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1997, Volume 12, pages 73-114, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    40. Fan, Songmei & Yan, Jingjing & Sha, Jinghua, 2017. "Innovation and economic growth in the mining industry: Evidence from China's listed companies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 25-42.
    41. García, Francisco & Jin, Byungchae & Salomon, Robert, 2013. "Does inward foreign direct investment improve the innovative performance of local firms?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 231-244.
    42. Pegkas, Panagiotis, 2015. "The impact of FDI on economic growth in Eurozone countries," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 124-132.
    43. Sapkota, Pratikshya & Bastola, Umesh, 2017. "Foreign direct investment, income, and environmental pollution in developing countries: Panel data analysis of Latin America," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 206-212.
    44. Carraro, Carlo & Galeotti, Marzio, 1997. "Economic growth, international competitiveness and environmental protection: R & D and innovation strategies with the WARM model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 2-28, March.
    45. Zhang, Lin, 2017. "The knowledge spillover effects of FDI on the productivity and efficiency of research activities in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 1-14.
    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. Grzegorz Mentel & Waldemar Tarczyński & Hossein Azadi & Kalandar Abdurakmanov & Elina Zakirova & Raufhon Salahodjaev, 2022. "R&D Human Capital, Renewable Energy and CO 2 Emissions: Evidence from 26 Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Wei Li & Si Chen & Zhihao Wang & Guomin Li & Xiaoguang Liu, 2022. "The Influence of Message Framing on Residents’ Waste Separation Willingness—The Mediating Role of Moral Identity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-18, May.
    3. Ayoub Zeraibi & Daniel Balsalobre-Lorente & Khurram Shehzad, 2021. "Testing the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypotheses in Chinese Provinces: A Nexus between Regional Government Expenditures and Environmental Quality," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-16, September.

    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. Mihaela Sterpu & Carmen Rocșoreanu & Georgeta Soava & Anca Mehedintu, 2023. "A Generalization of the Grey Lotka–Volterra Model and Application to GDP, Export, Import and Investment for the European Union," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-23, July.
    2. Wilman-Santiago Ochoa-Moreno & Byron Alejandro Quito & Carlos Andrés Moreno-Hurtado, 2021. "Foreign Direct Investment and Environmental Quality: Revisiting the EKC in Latin American Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-18, November.
    3. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Nasir, Muhammad Ali & Roubaud, David, 2018. "Environmental degradation in France: The effects of FDI, financial development, and energy innovations," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 843-857.
    4. Shuai Chen & Jiameng Yang & Xinyi Kang, 2023. "Effect of Fiscal Expenditure for Supporting Agriculture on Agricultural Economic Efficiency in Central China—A Case Study of Henan Province," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-22, April.
    5. Zameer, Hashim & Yasmeen, Humaira & Zafar, Muhammad Wasif & Waheed, Abdul & Sinha, Avik, 2020. "Analyzing the association between Innovation, Economic Growth, and Environment: Divulging the Importance of FDI and Trade Openness in India," MPRA Paper 101323, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2020.
    6. Qamri, Ghulam Muhammad & Sheng, Bin & Adeel-Farooq, Rana Muhammad & Alam, Gazi Mahabubul, 2022. "The criticality of FDI in Environmental Degradation through financial development and economic growth: Implications for promoting the green sector," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    7. Taowu Pei & Lei Gao & Chao Yang & Chang Xu & Yu Tian & Weiming Song, 2021. "The Impact of FDI on Urban PM 2.5 Pollution in China: The Mediating Effect of Industrial Structure Transformation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-24, August.
    8. Arminen, Heli & Menegaki, Angeliki N., 2019. "Corruption, climate and the energy-environment-growth nexus," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 621-634.
    9. Ofori, Isaac K & Gbolonyo, Emmanuel Y. & Ojong, Nathanael, 2022. "Foreign Direct Investment and Inclusive Green Growth in Africa: Energy Efficiency Contingencies and Thresholds," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 1-58.
    10. Ofori, Isaac K. & Gbolonyo, Emmanuel Y. & Ojong, Nathanael, 2022. "Foreign Direct Investment and Inclusive Green Growth in Africa: Energy Efficiency Contingencies and Thresholds," MPRA Paper 115379, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 09 Nov 2022.
    11. Vujanović, Nina & Radošević, Slavo & Stojčić, Nebojša & Hisarciklilar, Mehtap & Hashi, Iraj, 2022. "FDI spillover effects on innovation activities of knowledge using and knowledge creating firms: Evidence from an emerging economy," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    12. Ofori, Isaac K. & Gbolonyo, Emmanuel Y. & Ojong, Nathanael, 2023. "Foreign direct investment and inclusive green growth in Africa: Energy efficiency contingencies and thresholds," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    13. AM.Priyangani Adikari & Haiyun Liu & MMSA. Marasinghe, 2021. "Inward Foreign Direct Investment-Induced Technological Innovation in Sri Lanka? Empirical Evidence Using ARDL Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-16, June.
    14. Muhammad Shahbaz & Mehmet Akif Destek & Michael L. Polemis, 2018. "Do Foreign Capital and Financial Development Affect Clean Energy Consumption and Carbon Emissions? Evidence from BRICS and Next-11 Countries," SPOUDAI Journal of Economics and Business, SPOUDAI Journal of Economics and Business, University of Piraeus, vol. 68(4), pages 20-50, October-D.
    15. Magazzino, Cosimo & Mele, Marco, 2022. "Can a change in FDI accelerate GDP growth? Time-series and ANNs evidence on Malta," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 25(C).
    16. Hou Renyong & Aman Ali Sedik, 2023. "Environmental Sustainability and Foreign Direct Investment in East Africa: Institutional and Policy Benefits for Environmental Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-22, January.
    17. Segundo Camino-Mogro & Natalia Bermúdez-Barrezueta & Mary Armijos, 2023. "Is FDI a potential tool for boosting firm’s performance? Firm level evidence from Ecuador," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 341-391, April.
    18. Tan, Yan & Uprasen, Utai, 2022. "The effect of foreign direct investment on renewable energy consumption subject to the moderating effect of environmental regulation: Evidence from the BRICS countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(P2), pages 135-149.
    19. Zafar, Muhammad Wasif & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Sinha, Avik & Sengupta, Tuhin & Qin, Quande, 2020. "How Renewable Energy Consumption Contribute to Environmental Quality? The Role of Education in OECD Countries," MPRA Paper 100259, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 08 May 2020.
    20. Tarek Ghazouani, 2022. "The Effect of FDI Inflows, Urbanization, Industrialization, and Technological Innovation on CO2 Emissions: Evidence from Tunisia," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(4), pages 3265-3295, December.

    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:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:6:p:2839-:d:514655. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.