IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cpb/discus/298.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Regional Impact of Bilateral Investment Treaties on Foreign Direct Investment

Author

Listed:
  • Arjan Lejour

    (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis)

  • Maria Salfi

Abstract

We examine the impact of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) on bilateral FDI stocks using extensive data from 1985 until 2011. We correct for endogeneity using indicators for governance and membership of international organisations. We find that ratified BITs increase on average bilateral FDI stocks by 35% compared to those of country pairs without a treaty. Upper middle income countries seem to benefit the most from ratified treaties whereas high income countries with high governance levels do not profit at all. In addition, lower middle and low income countries experience significantly larger inward FDI stocks from partner’s countries. Distinguishing by region, we find that ratified BITs increase FDI stocks mainly in East Asia and Middle & Eastern Europe.

Suggested Citation

  • Arjan Lejour & Maria Salfi, 2015. "The Regional Impact of Bilateral Investment Treaties on Foreign Direct Investment," CPB Discussion Paper 298, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpb:discus:298
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cpb.nl/sites/default/files/publicaties/download/cpb-discussion-paper-298-regional-impact-bilateral-investment-treaties-foreign-direct-investment.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James E. Anderson & Eric van Wincoop, 2003. "Gravity with Gravitas: A Solution to the Border Puzzle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(1), pages 170-192, March.
    2. David L. Carr & James R. Markusen & Keith E. Maskus, 2021. "Estimating The Knowledge-Capital Model of the Multinational Enterprise," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: BROADENING TRADE THEORY Incorporating Market Realities into Traditional Models, chapter 5, pages 95-110, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    3. Rashmi Banga, 2003. "Impact of government policies and investment agreements on FDI inflows," Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi Working Papers 116, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi, India.
    4. Peter Egger & Valeria Merlo, 2007. "The Impact of Bilateral Investment Treaties on FDI Dynamics," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(10), pages 1536-1549, October.
    5. Aisbett, Emma, 2007. "Bilateral Investment Treaties and Foreign Direct Investment: Correlation versus Causation," MPRA Paper 2255, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Neumayer, Eric & Spess, Laura, 2005. "Do bilateral investment treaties increase foreign direct investment to developing countries?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1567-1585, October.
    7. Berger, Axel & Busse, Matthias & Nunnenkamp, Peter & Roy, Martin, 2011. "More stringent BITs, less ambiguous effects on FDI? Not a bit!," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 112(3), pages 270-272, September.
    8. Peter Egger & Mario Larch & Michael Pfaffermayr & Hannes Winner, 2006. "The impact of endogenous tax treaties on foreign direct investment: theory and evidence," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 39(3), pages 901-931, August.
    9. Jennifer Tobin & Susan Rose-Ackerman, 2003. "Foreign Direct Investment and the Business Environment in Developing Countries: the Impact of Bilateral Investment Treaties," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 587, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    10. Peter Egger & Valeria Merlo, 2012. "BITs Bite: An Anatomy of the Impact of Bilateral Investment Treaties on Multinational Firms," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 114(4), pages 1240-1266, December.
    11. Mary Hallward-Driemeier, 2003. "Do bilateral investment treaties attract foreign direct investment? Only a bit - and they could bite," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3121, The World Bank.
    12. Egger, Peter & Pfaffermayr, Michael, 2004. "The impact of bilateral investment treaties on foreign direct investment," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 788-804, December.
    13. Medvedev, Denis, 2012. "Beyond Trade: The Impact of Preferential Trade Agreements on FDI Inflows," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 49-61.
    14. Eric Neumayer, 2007. "Do double taxation treaties increase foreign direct investment to developing countries?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(8), pages 1501-1519.
    15. James R. Markusen & Keith E. Maskus, 2002. "Discriminating Among Alternative Theories of the Multinational Enterprise," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(4), pages 694-707, November.
    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. Josef C. Brada & Zdenek Drabek & Ichiro Iwasaki, 2021. "Does Investor Protection Increase Foreign Direct Investment? A Meta‐Analysis," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 34-70, February.
    2. Horn, Henrik & Tangerås, Thomas, 2016. "Economics and Politics of International Investment Agreements," Working Paper Series 1140, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    3. Benfratello, Luigi & D’Ambrosio, Anna & Sangrigoli, Alida, 2023. "Foreign Direct Investments in Africa: Are Chinese investors different?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PA).
    4. Andrea Goldstein & Alessia Amighini & Karl P. Sauvant, 2016. "China, the G20 and the International Investment Regime," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 24(4), pages 73-92, July.

    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. Arjan Lejour & Maria Salfi, 2015. "The Regional Impact of Bilateral Investment Treaties on Foreign Direct Investment," CPB Discussion Paper 298.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    2. Jay Dixon & Paul Alexander Haslam, 2016. "Does the Quality of Investment Protection Affect FDI Flows to Developing Countries? Evidence from Latin America," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(8), pages 1080-1108, August.
    3. Xiong, Tingting, 2022. "The Effect of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) on the extensive and intensive margins of exports," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 68-79.
    4. Bergstrand, Jeffrey H. & Egger, Peter, 2013. "What determines BITs?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 107-122.
    5. Matthias Busse & Jens Königer & Peter Nunnenkamp, 2010. "FDI promotion through bilateral investment treaties: more than a bit?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 146(1), pages 147-177, April.
    6. Peter Nunnenkamp, 2010. "How Global is Foreign Direct Investment and What Can Policymakers Do About It? Stylized Facts, Knowledge Gaps, and Selected Policy Instruments," Chapters, in: Robert M. Solow & Jean-Philippe Touffut (ed.), The Shape of the Division of Labour, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Josef C. Brada & Zdenek Drabek & Ichiro Iwasaki, 2021. "Does Investor Protection Increase Foreign Direct Investment? A Meta‐Analysis," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 34-70, February.
    8. Monika Sztajerowska, 2021. "International Investment Agreements, Double-Taxation Treaties and Multinational Activity: The (Heterogeneous) Effects of Binding," PSE Working Papers halshs-03265057, HAL.
    9. Niti Bhasin & Rinku Manocha, 2016. "Do Bilateral Investment Treaties Promote FDI Inflows? Evidence from India," Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers, , vol. 41(4), pages 275-287, December.
    10. Monika Sztajerowska, 2021. "International Investment Agreements, Double-Taxation Treaties and Multinational Activity: The (Heterogeneous) Effects of Binding," Working Papers halshs-03265057, HAL.
    11. Simon Hartmann & Rok Spruk, 2023. "The impact of unilateral BIT terminations on FDI: Quasi-experimental evidence from India," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 259-296, April.
    12. Paola Cardamone & Margherita Scoppola, 2015. "The pattern of EU FDI in the manufacturing industry: What role do third country effects and trade policies play?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 54(2), pages 511-532, March.
    13. Cardamone, Paola & Scoppola, Margherita, 2012. "Trade costs and the pattern of Foreign Direct Investment: evidence from five EU countries," 2012 First Congress, June 4-5, 2012, Trento, Italy 124106, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA).
    14. Cao, Thi Hong Vinh & Lu, Thi Thu Trang & Nguyen, Thi Viet Hoa, 2014. "The Impact of Heterogeneous Bilateral Investment Treaties (BIT) on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows to Vietnam," Papers 916, World Trade Institute.
    15. Aisbett, Emma & Busse, Matthias & Nunnenkamp, Peter, 2016. "Bilateral investment treaties do work: Until they don't," Kiel Working Papers 2021, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    16. Axel Berger & Matthias Busse & Peter Nunnenkamp & Martin Roy, 2013. "Do trade and investment agreements lead to more FDI? Accounting for key provisions inside the black box," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 247-275, June.
    17. Maria Borga & Perla Ibarlucea Flores & Monika Sztajerowska, 2020. "Drivers of divestment decisions of multinational enterprises - A cross-country firm-level perspective," OECD Working Papers on International Investment 2019/03, OECD Publishing.
    18. Rod Falvey & Neil Foster-McGregor, 2017. "Heterogeneous effects of bilateral investment treaties," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 153(4), pages 631-656, November.
    19. Seungjun Kim, 2023. "Protecting home: how firms’ investment plans affect the formation of bilateral investment treaties," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 667-692, October.
    20. Mariam Camarero & Laura Montolio & Cecilio Tamarit, 2019. "Alternative Estimators For The Fdi Gravity Model: An Application To German Outward Fdi," Working Papers 1907, Department of Applied Economics II, Universidad de Valencia.

    More about this item

    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
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:cpb:discus:298. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cpbgvnl.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.