Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-1-2013

Abstract

Inward FDI is believed to promote economic growth and transfer technology across countries. This led many economies to promote policies that encourage and support inward FDI. Researchers have been undertaking empirical research to determine whether inward FDI does in fact have the proclaimed effect on the economy. The findings from the studies on the spillover effects of FDI are mixed. More recent studies explain that it is not a matter of whether FDI influences the host country’s economy; but rather of whether the necessary factors for the existence of spillover effects are present. This raises the issue of what is known as the absorptive capacity of the country; that is, a country’s capacity or ability to absorb the benefits that FDI can offer. This study focuses on the absorptive capacity of emerging and MENA economies. The absorptive capacity factors examined are the following: human capital, trade openness, and institutional quality. The results indicate that FDI spillovers exist in emerging and MENA economies, yet are more evident when controlling for schooling as an absorptive capacity factor. Both trade openness and institutional quality appear to be of little influence on the FDI spillovers. Moreover, it appears that countries with lower schooling levels stand to benefit the most from FDI spillovers.

Identifier

2334-282X

Journal Title

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

ISSN

2334-282X

Publisher

Middle East Economic Association and Loyola University Chicago

Volume

15

Comments

Presentation of the articles in the Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies was made possible by a limited license granted to Loyola University Chicago and Middle East Economics Association from the authors who have retained all copyrights in the articles. http://www.luc.edu/orgs/meea/volume15/meea15.htm

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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