Does FDI Cause Development? The Ambiguity of the Evidence and Why it Matters

摘要

The contribution that inward foreign direct investment (FDI) makes to development has been examined in a number of contexts including the relationship between inward FDI and new firm formation; growth; innovation, exports and competitiveness. However, no debate has proved so contentious, or so long lasting as that concerning the extent to which inward FDI stimulates productivity growth in the host country. There are two reasons for this. The first is simply the importance of the question. The growth literature is consistent in identifying productivity growth as the main driver of development. Studies by Klenow and Rodriguez-Clare (1997), Hall and Jones (1999) and Easterly and Levine (2001) among others have demonstrated that total factor productivity growth explains far more of the variation in cross-country per capita income growth than the more traditional drivers of growth such as institutions or capital (physical and human) accumulation. Second, both policymakers and academics have long since held the view that there exist 'spillovers' from FDI. That is, inward investment generates some form of indirect knowledge or technology transfer from parent to affiliate, and subsequently from affiliate to the local economy (Driffield et al, 2010). The big questions that form the basis