scholarly journals How trade and investment agreements affect bilateral foreign direct investment: Results from a structural gravity model

World Economy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (12) ◽  
pp. 3203-3242
Author(s):  
Henk L. M. Kox ◽  
Hugo Rojas‐Romagosa
2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 539-567
Author(s):  
Prachi Mishra ◽  
Devesh Roy

This paper documents stylized facts about the evolution of trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) between India and the United States over the last four decades. We ask the question: does India-US trade and FDI deviate from its potential i. e. the level that would have been predicted by standard determinants? Using an augmented gravity model and a large sample of countries over 1970–2009, we find that while India’s exports to the US are 34 % higher than predicted, US exports to India are in line with its potential. Notably, we find strong reversals in the nature of these trading relationships over time. India loses its over-trading status while US turns out to be under-exporting to India in the period after 1990. We also find significant variation in trade performance across product categories. For primary and intermediate goods during post-1990, US exports to India turn significantly below normal. Conducting similar analysis for bilateral FDI flows for the period 1985–2009, we show that while US direct investments in India are in line with predictions based on fundamentals, India has actually been an under-investor in the US market.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
I Gusti Ngurah Parikesit Widiatedja ◽  
I Gusti Ngurah Wairocana ◽  
I Nyoman Suyatna

There have been some concerns over the existence of trade and investment agreements. They have been doubted because of the poverty and inequality issues in some regions across the globe. The rise of the spirit of national interest of their members has also exacerbated the situation. Hence, these two miserable facts may end up with a question whether Indonesia should keep joining trade and investment agreements. This article is aimed to examine if Indonesia should continue its participation in trade and investment agreements. Employing a normative legal research, this article put three parameters, analysing the continuity of Indonesia’s participation, namely the benefits of international trade and foreign direct investment, the rationale of trade and investment agreements, and how trade and investment agreements (that involve Indonesia) have positively affected Indonesia’s development. This article then claims that Indonesia should keep joining trade and investment agreements for realising its targets on economic growth and development.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oleg Mariev ◽  
Igor Drapkin ◽  
Kristina Chukavina

Abstract The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it is to answer the question of whether Russia is successful in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). Second, it is to identify partner countries that “overinvest” and “underinvest” in the Russian economy. We do this by calculating potential FDI inflows to Russia and comparing them with actual values. This research is associated with the empirical estimation of factors explaining FDI flows between countries. The methodological foundation used for the research is the gravity model of foreign direct investment. In discussing the pros and cons of different econometric methods of the estimation gravity equation, we conclude that the Poisson pseudo maximum likelihood method with instrumental variables (IV PPML) is one of the best options in our case. Using a database covering about 70% of FDI flows for the period of 2001-2011, we discover the following factors that explain the variance of bilateral FDI flows in the world economy: GDP value of investing country, GDP value of recipient country, distance between countries, remoteness of investor country, remoteness of recipient country, level of institutions development in host country, wage level in host country, membership of two countries in a regional economic union, common official language, common border and colonial relationships between countries in the past. The potential values of FDI inflows are calculated using coefficients of regressors from the econometric model. We discover that the Russian economy performs very well in attracting FDI: the actual FDI inflows exceed potential values by 1.72 times. Large developed countries (France, Germany, UK, Italy) overinvest in the Russian economy, while smaller and less developed countries (Czech Republic, Belarus, Denmark, Ukraine) underinvest in Russia. Countries of Southeast Asia (China, South Korea, Japan) also underinvest in the Russian economy.


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-100
Author(s):  
M. Foster ◽  
Choo Shin Tseng

China has become one of the major recipients of foreign direct investment since Chairman Deng determined in 1978 that China’s economic door should be opened, for both trade and investment. Despite the fact that there is now over thirty years of accumulated knowledge and experience of this new, open China market on which to draw, there are cases where it has proved difficult to deal with China as partners due to legal and regulatory frameworks operating in China. This is true not only for western-based, non-Chinese firms but also for firms from the Chinese diaspora. We examine a number of such problematic cases, seeking to understand the roots of the problems experienced by the foreign entities and what may be the solutions. All of the case firms experienced difficulties to some degree with the Chinese legal system, the regulatory system, or what might be called tacit regulation, where investing firms have difficulty with other firms such as suppliers who are not part of the legal, or quasi legal system, but have effects on the investors which seem to have the tacit support or approval of government. The experience of these case firms confirms the picture that it is hard for foreign directed entities to win legal or regulatory battles in China.


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 942-973
Author(s):  
Romesh Weeramantry

Abstract Cambodia has undertaken several initiatives to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), which has been growing rapidly in recent years, particularly through participating in Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) investment agreements and free trade agreements (FTAs). This article first outlines Cambodia’s arbitration law and practice, its Law on Investment, the court system, problems relating to corruption, and foreign direct investment (FDI) patterns. It then surveys trends in Cambodia’s comparatively belated signing of investment treaties, and their main contents (including recent treaties with India and Hungary, adopting very different models). The article then discusses the only investment arbitration instituted against Cambodia, which was successfully defended, followed by a comment on the future prospects for Cambodia’s investment treaty program.


Mathematics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 1882
Author(s):  
Marta Bengoa ◽  
Blanca Sanchez-Robles ◽  
Yochanan Shachmurove

Latin America has experienced a surge in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the last two decades, in parallel with the ratification of major regional trade agreements (RTAs) and bilateral investment treaties (BITs). This paper uses the latest developments in the structural gravity model theory to study if the co-existence of BITs and two major regional agreements, Mercosur and the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI), exerts enhancing or overlapping effects on FDI for eleven countries in Latin America over the period 1995–2018. The study is novel as it accounts for variations in the degree of investment protection across BITs within Latin America by computing a quality index of BITs. It also explores the nature of interactions (enhancing/overlapping effects) between RTAs and BITs. The findings reveal that belonging to a well-established regional trade agreement, such as Mercosur, is significantly more effective than BITs in fostering intra-regional FDI. Phasing-in effects are large and significant and there is evidence of enhancing effects. Results within the bloc are heterogeneous: BITs exert a positive, but small effect, for middle income countries. However, BITs are not effective in attracting FDI in the case of middle to low income countries, unless these countries ratify BITs with a high degree of investment protection.


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