When Does FDI Have Positive Spillovers? Evidence from 17 Emerging Market Economies

56 Pages Posted: 30 Oct 2007

See all articles by Yuriy Gorodnichenko

Yuriy Gorodnichenko

University of California, Berkeley - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Jan Svejnar

School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, NY, USA; CEPR; IZA; CERGE-EI; University of Ljubljana

Katherine Terrell

Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); IZA Institute of Labor Economics; Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

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Date Written: September 2007

Abstract

We use firm-level data and national input-output tables from 17 countries over the 2002-2005 period to test new and existing hypotheses about the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the efficiency of domestic firms in the host country (i.e., spillovers). Providing evidence from a larger sample of countries and greater variety of firms than existing studies, with separate estimates by firm size, age, and sector, we show: a) backward spillovers (stemming from supplying a foreign firm in the host country or exporting to a foreign firm) are consistently positive; b) horizontal spillovers are mostly insignificant but positive for older firms and firms in the service sector; d) forward spillovers (from purchasing from foreign firms or importing) are also positive only for old and service sector firms. We find no support for the hypothesis that spillovers are greater for FDI with more advanced technology. While efficiency of domestic firms is affected by the business environment, the strength of FDI spillovers is not, either when measured by the degree of corruption, bureaucratic red tape or by differences across regions that vary in terms of development. Testing whether spillovers vary with the firm's "absorptive capacity" we find: i) distance from the efficiency frontier tends to dampen horizontal spillovers in manufacturing and backward spillovers among old firms; ii) whereas firms with a larger share of university educated workforce are more productive, they do not enjoy greater FDI spillovers than firms with less educated workers. FDI spillovers hence vary by sectors and types of firms.

Keywords: FDI, spillovers, transition economies, efficiency

JEL Classification: F23, M16, O16, P23

Suggested Citation

Gorodnichenko, Yuriy and Svejnar, Jan and Terrell, Katherine, When Does FDI Have Positive Spillovers? Evidence from 17 Emerging Market Economies (September 2007). Ross School of Business Paper No. 1101, IZA Discussion Paper No. 3079, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1025434 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1025434

Yuriy Gorodnichenko

University of California, Berkeley - Department of Economics ( email )

549 Evans Hall #3880
Berkeley, CA 94720-3880
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.econ.berkeley.edu/~ygorodni/index.htm

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Jan Svejnar

School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, NY, USA ( email )

420 West 118th Street
New York, NY 10027
United States

CEPR

London
United Kingdom

IZA

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

CERGE-EI

P.O. Box 882
7 Politickych veznu
111 21 Prague 1, Prague
Czech Republic

HOME PAGE: http://www.cerge-ei.cz

University of Ljubljana ( email )

Dunajska 104
Ljubljana, 1000
Slovenia

Katherine Terrell (Contact Author)

Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan ( email )

701 Tappan Street
Ann Arbor, MI MI 48109
United States

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy ( email )

735 South State Street, Weill Hall
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
United States

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