IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/rel/journl/y2021v18n1p52-73.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Analyzing the relationship between inward FDI, education and entrepreneurial activity at the macro-level

Author

Listed:
  • Jenny Berrill

    (Trinity College Dublin)

  • Martha O’Hagan-Luff

    (Trinity College Dublin)

  • André Van Stel

    (Trinity College Dublin & Kozminski University)

Abstract

We investigate the roles of inward FDI and education in explaining country levels of entrepreneurship. It is widely recognised that inward FDI may have positive but also negative spillover effects on entrepreneurial activity. We argue that both types of spillovers (positive and negative) may be reinforced by high education levels of the labour force. Using a database across 75 countries between 2001 and 2015, we estimate a 2SLS model that tests for this moderating role of education. We find support for a negative interaction effect of FDI and macro-level education on the rate of entrepreneurial activity, suggesting that in countries with highly educated labour forces, inward FDI leads to more jobs in the wage sector rather than a higher number of entrepreneurs. Policy implications are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Jenny Berrill & Martha O’Hagan-Luff & André Van Stel, 2021. "Analyzing the relationship between inward FDI, education and entrepreneurial activity at the macro-level," Revista de Economía Laboral - Spanish Journal of Labour Economics, Asociación Española de Economía Laboral - AEET, vol. 18, pages 52-73.
    • Handle: RePEc:rel:journl:y:2021:v:18:n:1:p:52-73
    Note: Vol. 18, Núm. 1 (2021)
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.aeet.eu/images/RePEc/rel/journl/rel/159-Texto_del_artculo-454-2-10-20210729.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mirjam Praag & André Stel, 2013. "The more business owners, the merrier? The role of tertiary education," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 335-357, August.
    2. Homin Chen & Tain-Jy Chen, 1998. "Network Linkages and Location Choice in Foreign Direct Investment," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 29(3), pages 445-467, September.
    3. Zoltán J. Ács & Colm O'Gorman & László Szerb & Siri Terjesen, 2015. "Could the Irish Miracle be Repeated in Hungary?," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 30, pages 584-603, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Fosfuri, Andrea & Motta, Massimo & Ronde, Thomas, 2001. "Foreign direct investment and spillovers through workers' mobility," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 205-222, February.
    5. Koen De Backer & Leo Sleuwaegen, 2003. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Crowd Out Domestic Entrepreneurship?," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 22(1), pages 67-84, February.
    6. Brian J. Aitken & Ann E. Harrison, 2022. "Do Domestic Firms Benefit from Direct Foreign Investment? Evidence from Venezuela," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Globalization, Firms, and Workers, chapter 6, pages 139-152, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    7. Alina Sorgner & Michael Fritsch & Alexander Kritikos, 2017. "Do entrepreneurs really earn less?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 251-272, August.
    8. Dan Breznitz, 2012. "Ideas, structure, state action and economic growth: Rethinking the Irish miracle," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 87-113.
    9. Shige Makino & Andrew Delios, 1996. "Local Knowledge Transfer and Performance: Implications for Alliance Formation in Asia," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 27(4), pages 905-927, December.
    10. Borensztein, E. & De Gregorio, J. & Lee, J-W., 1998. "How does foreign direct investment affect economic growth?1," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 115-135, June.
    11. Gorg, Holger & Strobl, Eric & Ruane, Frances, 2000. "Determinants of Firm Start-Up Size: An Application of Quantile Regression for Ireland," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 211-222, May.
    12. Zoltán J. Ács & Pontus Braunerhjelm & David B. Audretsch & Bo Carlsson, 2015. "The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 7, pages 129-144, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Alfaro, Laura & Chanda, Areendam & Kalemli-Ozcan, Sebnem & Sayek, Selin, 2004. "FDI and economic growth: the role of local financial markets," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 89-112, October.
    14. Peter J. Buckley & Mark Casson, 1991. "The Future of the Multinational Enterprise," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, edition 0, number 978-1-349-21204-0.
    15. Dana Hajkova & Giuseppe Nicoletti & Laura Vartia & Kwang-Yeol Yoo, 2006. "Taxation, Business Environment and FDI Location in OECD Countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 502, OECD Publishing.
    16. Parker,Simon C., 2009. "The Economics of Entrepreneurship," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521728355, March.
    17. Daron Acemoglu & Philippe Aghion & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2006. "Distance to Frontier, Selection, and Economic Growth," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 4(1), pages 37-74, March.
    18. Becker, Johannes & Fuest, Clemens & Riedel, Nadine, 2012. "Corporate tax effects on the quality and quantity of FDI," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(8), pages 1495-1511.
    19. Eric A. Hanushek & Ludger Woessmann, 2008. "The Role of Cognitive Skills in Economic Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(3), pages 607-668, September.
    20. Lars P. Feld & Jost H. Heckemeyer, 2011. "Fdi And Taxation: A Meta‐Study," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 233-272, April.
    21. Niels Bosma & Veronique Schutjens, 2011. "Understanding regional variation in entrepreneurial activity and entrepreneurial attitude in Europe," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 47(3), pages 711-742, December.
    22. Jonathan E. Haskel & Sonia C. Pereira & Matthew J. Slaughter, 2007. "Does Inward Foreign Direct Investment Boost the Productivity of Domestic Firms?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 89(3), pages 482-496, August.
    23. Jérôme Vandenbussche & Philippe Aghion & Costas Meghir, 2006. "Growth, distance to frontier and composition of human capital," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 97-127, June.
    24. Justin Van Der Sluis & Mirjam Van Praag & Wim Vijverberg, 2008. "Education And Entrepreneurship Selection And Performance: A Review Of The Empirical Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 795-841, December.
    25. Benz, Matthias & Frey, Bruno S., 2008. "The value of doing what you like: Evidence from the self-employed in 23 countries," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 68(3-4), pages 445-455, December.
    26. Catherine Armington & Zoltan J. Acs, 2008. "The Determinants of Regional Variation in New Firm Formation," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 18, pages 224-243, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    27. Jenny Berrill & Martha O’Hagan-Luff & André Stel, 2020. "The moderating role of education in the relationship between FDI and entrepreneurial activity," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(4), pages 1041-1059, April.
    28. Seçil Hülya Danakol & Saul Estrin & Paul Reynolds & Utz Weitzel, 2017. "Foreign direct investment via M&A and domestic entrepreneurship: blessing or curse?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 599-612, March.
    29. Peter J Buckley & Mark C Casson, 2009. "The internalisation theory of the multinational enterprise: A review of the progress of a research agenda after 30 years," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 40(9), pages 1563-1580, December.
    30. O'Hagan-Luff, Martha & Berrill, Jenny, 2016. "US firms – How global are they? A longitudinal study," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 205-216.
    31. 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.
    32. Jose Maria Millan & Emilio Congregado & Concepcion Roman & Mirjam van Praag & Andre van Stel, 2011. "The Value of an Educated Population for an Individual's Entrepreneurship Success," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 11-066/3, Tinbergen Institute, revised 06 May 2014.
    33. Laixiang Sun & In Hyeock Lee & Eunsuk Hong, 2017. "Does foreign direct investment stimulate new firm creation? In search of spillovers through industrial and geographical linkages," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 613-631, March.
    34. De Maeseneire, Wouter & Claeys, Tine, 2012. "SMEs, foreign direct investment and financial constraints: The case of Belgium," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 408-424.
    35. Alan M. Rugman, 2006. "Inside the Multinationals 25th Anniversary Edition," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-62516-7.
    36. Unger, Jens M. & Rauch, Andreas & Frese, Michael & Rosenbusch, Nina, 2011. "Human capital and entrepreneurial success: A meta-analytical review," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 341-358, May.
    37. Klara Sabirianova & Jan Svejnar & Katherine Terrell, 2005. "Distance to the Efficiency Frontier and Foreign Direct Investment Spillovers," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(2-3), pages 576-586, 04/05.
    38. Blalock, Garrick & Gertler, Paul J., 2008. "Welfare gains from Foreign Direct Investment through technology transfer to local suppliers," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 402-421, March.
    39. Matthias Benz & Bruno S. Frey, "undated". "The Value of Autonomy: Evidence from the Self-Employed in 23 Countries," IEW - Working Papers 173, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
    40. Klaus E Meyer & Evis Sinani, 2009. "When and where does foreign direct investment generate positive spillovers? A meta-analysis," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 40(7), pages 1075-1094, September.
    41. Dunning, John H, 1973. "The Determinants of International Production," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 25(3), pages 289-336, November.
    42. Newman, Carol & Rand, John & Talbot, Theodore & Tarp, Finn, 2015. "Technology transfers, foreign investment and productivity spillovers," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 168-187.
    43. Robert E. Lucas Jr., 1978. "On the Size Distribution of Business Firms," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 9(2), pages 508-523, Autumn.
    44. Andrew Burke & Holger Görg & Aoife Hanley, 2008. "The impact of foreign direct investment on new firm survival in the UK: evidence for static versus dynamic industries," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 395-407, December.
    45. Parker,Simon C., 2009. "The Economics of Entrepreneurship," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521899604, March.
    46. Meghana Ayyagari & Renáta Kosová, 2010. "Does FDI Facilitate Domestic Entry? Evidence from the Czech Republic," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 14-29, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Jenny Berrill & Martha O’Hagan-Luff & André Stel, 2020. "The moderating role of education in the relationship between FDI and entrepreneurial activity," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(4), pages 1041-1059, April.
    2. Apostolov Mico & Scagnelli Simone Domenico, 2019. "Foreign-Versus Domestic-Owned firms in the Predicament ‘Cui bono?’," Business Systems Research, Sciendo, vol. 10(2), pages 18-36, September.
    3. Saul Estrin & Milica Uvalic, 2016. "Foreign Direct Investment in the Western Balkans: What Role Has it Played During Transition?," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 58(3), pages 455-483, September.
    4. Laixiang Sun & In Hyeock Lee & Eunsuk Hong, 2017. "Does foreign direct investment stimulate new firm creation? In search of spillovers through industrial and geographical linkages," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 613-631, March.
    5. Sara Amoroso & Bettina Müller, 2018. "The short-run effects of knowledge intensive greenfield FDI on new domestic entry," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 815-836, June.
    6. Jose Maria Millan & Emilio Congregado & Concepcion Roman & Mirjam van Praag & Andre van Stel, 2011. "The Value of an Educated Population for an Individual's Entrepreneurship Success," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 11-066/3, Tinbergen Institute, revised 06 May 2014.
    7. Marzieh Abolhassani & Seçil Hülya Danakol, 2019. "Wage and competition channels of foreign direct investment and new firm entry," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 935-960, December.
    8. Lee, In Hyeock (Ian) & Hong, Eunsuk & Makino, Shige, 2020. "The effect of non-conventional outbound foreign direct investment (FDI) on the domestic employment of multinational enterprises (MNEs)," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(3).
    9. Shawn W. Tan & Dea Tusha, 2023. "Foreign firm characteristics, labour market restrictions and FDI spillovers: Evidence from Moldova," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 85-119, January.
    10. Neil Foster-McGregor, 2012. "Innovation and Technology Transfer across Countries," wiiw Research Reports 380, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    11. Seçil Hülya Danakol & Saul Estrin & Paul Reynolds & Utz Weitzel, 2017. "Foreign direct investment via M&A and domestic entrepreneurship: blessing or curse?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 599-612, March.
    12. Sara L. McGaughey & Pascalis Raimondos & Lisbeth Cour, 2020. "Foreign influence, control, and indirect ownership: Implications for productivity spillovers," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(9), pages 1391-1412, December.
    13. Bruno, Randolph Luca & Campos, Nauro F. & Estrin, Saul, 2018. "Taking stock of firm-level and country-level benefits from foreign direct investment," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 87343, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Crescenzi, Riccardo & Gagliardi, Luisa & Iammarino, Simona, 2015. "Foreign multinationals and domestic innovation: Intra-industry effects and firm heterogeneity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 596-609.
    15. Slesman, Ly & Abubakar, Yazid Abdullahi & Mitra, Jay, 2021. "Foreign direct investment and entrepreneurship: Does the role of institutions matter?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(4).
    16. Thanh Tam Nguyen‐Huu & Ngoc‐Sang Pham, 2024. "FDI spillovers, new industry development, and economic growth," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 26(1), February.
    17. Laura Alfaro & Sebnem Kalemli‐Ozcan & Selin Sayek, 2009. "FDI, Productivity and Financial Development," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 111-135, January.
    18. Bruno, Randolph Luca & Campos, Nauro F., 2013. "Reexamining the Conditional Effect of Foreign Direct Investment," IZA Discussion Papers 7458, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Thanh Tam Nguyen-Huu & Ngoc-Sang Pham, 2021. "Escaping the middle income trap and getting economic growth: How does FDI can help the host country?," Working Papers halshs-03143087, HAL.
    20. Sara L. McGaughey & Pascalis Raimondos & Lisbeth Cour, 0. "Foreign influence, control, and indirect ownership: Implications for productivity spillovers," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 0, pages 1-22.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    entrepreneurial activity; inward FDI; spillover effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

    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:rel:journl:y:2021:v:18:n:1:p:52-73. 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: Emilio Congregado y D. Raúl Ramos. or the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aeettea.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.