IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/not/notgep/09-21.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Does the impact of employment protection legislation on FDI differ by skill-intensity of sectors? An empirical investigation

Author

Listed:
  • Markus Leibrecht
  • Christian Bellak

Abstract

In line with previous literature this paper finds that employment protection legislation, especially regulations towards regular employment, has a negative impact on the volume of inward Foreign Direct Investment. Yet, we also find that the deterrent effect of inflexible labor markets is predominantly given for industries with relatively high shares of low skilled workers employed. This result is consistent with the view that high exit costs due to strict employment protection legislation matters particularly for mobile industries like the textile, food and wood industries which continuously seek for low labor cost locations.

Suggested Citation

  • Markus Leibrecht & Christian Bellak, 2009. "Does the impact of employment protection legislation on FDI differ by skill-intensity of sectors? An empirical investigation," Discussion Papers 09/21, University of Nottingham, GEP.
    • Handle: RePEc:not:notgep:09/21
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/gep/documents/papers/2009/09-21.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Isabel Faeth, 2009. "Determinants Of Foreign Direct Investment – A Tale Of Nine Theoretical Models," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(1), pages 165-196, February.
    2. Agnès Bénassy‐Quéré & Maylis Coupet & Thierry Mayer, 2007. "Institutional Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 764-782, May.
    3. Blanchard, Olivier & Wolfers, Justin, 2000. "The Role of Shocks and Institutions in the Rise of European Unemployment: The Aggregate Evidence," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(462), pages 1-33, March.
    4. Beata Smarzynska Javorcik & Mariana Spatareanu, 2005. "Do Foreign Investors Care about Labor Market Regulations?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 141(3), pages 375-403, October.
    5. 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.
    6. José Guimón, 2009. "Government strategies to attract R&D-intensive FDI," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 34(4), pages 364-379, August.
    7. Ronald B. Davies, 2008. "Hunting High and Low for Vertical FDI," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(2), pages 250-267, May.
    8. Gross, Dominique M. & Ryan, Michael, 2008. "FDI location and size: Does employment protection legislation matter?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 590-605, November.
    9. 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.
    10. Jan I. Haaland & Ian Wooton & Giulia Faggio, 2002. "Multinational Firms: Easy Come, Easy Go?," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 59(1), pages 3-26, February.
    11. Devereux, Michael P. & Griffith, Rachel, 1998. "Taxes and the location of production: evidence from a panel of US multinationals," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 335-367, June.
    12. Markus Leibrecht & Johann Scharler, 2009. "How important is employment protection legislation for Foreign Direct Investment flows in Central and Eastern European countries?1," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 17(2), pages 275-295, April.
    13. Roxana Radulescu & Martin Robson, 2008. "Trade Unions, Wage Bargaining Coordination, and Foreign Direct Investment," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 22(4), pages 661-678, December.
    14. Gerda Dewit & Holger Görg & Catia Montagna, 2009. "Should I stay or should I go? Foreign direct investment, employment protection and domestic anchorage," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 145(1), pages 93-110, April.
    15. Peter E. Kennedy, 2005. "Oh No! I Got the Wrong Sign! What Should I Do?," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(1), pages 77-92, January.
    16. Dennis J. Snower & Alessio J. G. Brown & Christian Merkl, 2009. "Globalization and the Welfare State: A Review of Hans-Werner Sinn's Can Germany Be Saved?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 136-158, March.
    17. Buch, Claudia M. & Lipponer, Alexander, 2007. "FDI versus exports: Evidence from German banks," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 805-826, March.
    18. Mutti, John & Grubert, Harry, 2004. "Empirical asymmetries in foreign direct investment and taxation," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 337-358, March.
    19. Christian Bellak & Markus Leibrecht & Jože P. Damijan, 2009. "Infrastructure Endowment and Corporate Income Taxes as Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in Central and Eastern European Countries," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 267-290, February.
    20. Michael Peneder, 2007. "A sectoral taxonomy of educational intensity," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 34(3), pages 189-212, July.
    21. Pissarides, Christopher A., 2001. "Employment protection," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 131-159, May.
    22. 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.
    23. Bevan, Alan A. & Estrin, Saul, 2004. "The determinants of foreign direct investment into European transition economies," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 775-787, December.
    24. Agnès Bénassy-Quéré & Nicolas Gobalraja & Alain Trannoy, 2007. "Tax and public input competition [‘Tax competition and economic geography’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 22(50), pages 386-430.
    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. Robertas Vaitkus & Asta Vasiliauskaitė, 2022. "An Assessment of the Impact of Legal Regulation on Financial Security in OECD Countries," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-19, February.

    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. C. Bellak & M. Leibrecht & R. Stehrer, 2010. "The role of public policy in closing foreign direct investment gaps: an empirical analysis," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 37(1), pages 19-46, February.
    2. Markus Leibrecht & Johann Scharler, 2009. "How important is employment protection legislation for Foreign Direct Investment flows in Central and Eastern European countries?1," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 17(2), pages 275-295, April.
    3. repec:wsr:ecbook:2008:i:i-019 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Wasseem Mina & Louis Jaeck, 2015. "Labor Market Flexibility and FDI Flows: Evidence from Oil-Rich GCC and Middle Income Countries," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1501, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    5. Olney, William W., 2013. "A race to the bottom? Employment protection and foreign direct investment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 191-203.
    6. Vincent Delbecque & Isabelle Méjean & Lise Patureau, 2014. "Labor market institutions and firms’ location choices," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 150(1), pages 115-148, February.
    7. Christian Bellak & Markus Leibrecht & Jože P. Damijan, 2009. "Infrastructure Endowment and Corporate Income Taxes as Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in Central and Eastern European Countries," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 267-290, February.
    8. repec:lic:licosd:19307 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Pehr‐Johan Norbäck & Per Skedinger & Jing‐Lin Duanmu, 2021. "Employment protection and FDI revisited: New evidence from micro data," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(3), pages 645-670, March.
    10. 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.
    11. Bettina Becker & Nigel Driffield & Sandra Lancheros & James H. Love, 2020. "FDI in hot labour markets: The implications of the war for talent," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 3(2), pages 107-133, June.
    12. Norbäck, Pehr-Johan & Duanmu , Jing-Lin & Skedinger, Per, 2012. "Employment Protection and Multinational Enterprises: Theory and Evidence from Micro Data," Working Paper Series 935, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    13. Stack, Marie M. & Ravishankar, Geetha & Pentecost, Eric, 2017. "Foreign direct investment in the eastern European countries: Determinants and performance," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 86-97.
    14. Antonio Baez‐Morales, 2021. "A panel data analysis of FDI and informal labour markets," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(3), pages 346-363, July.
    15. Roy, Jayjit, 2021. "The effect of employment protection legislation on international trade," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 221-234.
    16. Tag, Mehmet Nasih & Degirmen, Suleyman, 2022. "Economic freedom and foreign direct investment: Are they related?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 737-752.
    17. Konstantinos Dellis, 2018. "Financial development and FDI flows: evidence from advanced economies," Working Papers 254, Bank of Greece.
    18. Antonio Baez, 2014. "“A panel data analysis of FDI and informal labor markets”," IREA Working Papers 201404, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Feb 2014.
    19. Mariam Camarero & Laura Montolio & Cecilio Tamarit, 2020. "Determinants of FDI for Spanish regions: evidence using stock data," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 59(6), pages 2779-2820, December.
    20. Kahouli, Bassem & Maktouf, Samir, 2015. "The determinants of FDI and the impact of the economic crisis on the implementation of RTAs: A static and dynamic gravity model," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 518-529.
    21. Markus Leibrecht & Aleksandra Riedl, 2014. "Modeling FDI based on a spatially augmented gravity model: Evidence for Central and Eastern European Countries," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(8), pages 1206-1237, December.
    22. Li, Zheng & Gao, Shan & Song, Shunfeng, 2023. "Labor protection, labor costs, and China's outward foreign direct investment," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 444-459.

    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:not:notgep:09/21. 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: Hilary Hughes (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cgnotuk.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.