How Foreign Investment Affects Host Countries

1745 Foreign direct investment may promote economic development by helping to improve productivity growth and exports in the multinationals' host countries. But the exact nature of the relationship between foreign multinational corporations and their host economies seems to vary between industries and countries. Summary findings Foreign direct investment may promote economic development by helping to improve productivity growth and exports in the multinationals' host countries, conclude Blomstrom and Kokko, after reviewing the empirical evidence. But the exact relationship between foreign multinational corporations and their host economies seems to vary between industries and countries. Multinational corporations mainly enter industries where barriers to entry and concentration are relatively high, and at first they increase the number of firms in the host country market. In the long run, they may contribute to a more concentrated market, although efficiency may improve, especially if protection does not guarantee an easy life for the multinational affiliate. However, most available evidence has to do with multinationals' entry into host countries' industries rather than with their presence — the dynamic aspects of multinationals' relationship to their competition in host country markets. Most evidence on multinationals' effects has to do with effects in industrial countries, and it is impossible to disregard the risk that the multinationals' entry into developing countries may replace local production and force local firms out of business, rather than force them to become more efficient. The Policy Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the view of the World Bank, its Executive Directors, or the countries they represent. Foreword As regional trading arrangements (RTAs) have spread, enlarged and deepened over the last decade, they have posed challenges to economists on both intellectual and policy levels. On the former, do RTAs stimulate growth and investment, facilitate technology transfer, shift comparative advantage towards high value-added activities, provide credibility to reform programs, or induce political stability and cooperation? Or do they, on the other hand, divert trade in inefficient directions and undermine the multilateral trading system? The answer is probably " all …