Policymakers in developing countries have increasingly pinned their hopes on bilateral investment treaties (BITs) in order to improve their chances in the worldwide competition for foreign direct investment (FDI). However, the effectiveness of BITs in inducing higher FDI inflows is still open to debate. It is in several ways that we attempt to clarify the inconclusive empirical findings of earl...

It is often argued that countries with a high population share of children and young workers should attract large capital infl ows from aging industrialized economies. However, many of these countries deter foreign investors by a high risk of creeping or outright expropriation. In this paper we explore whether the correlation between countries’ demographic structure and the perceived security o...

We examine cross-region capital mobility in China and track how the degree of mobility has changed over time. The effects of fiscal and redistributive activities of different levels of government in China on private capital mobility are taken into account. Our results indicate that there is a significant improvement in capital mobility over time in China, particularly for private capital in the...

We examine the impact of capital account policies on FDI inflows. Using an annual panel dataset of 83 developing and developed countries for 1984-2000, we find that capital account openness is positively but only very moderately associated with the amount of FDI inflows after controlling for other macroeconomic and institutional measures. To a large extent, other country characteristics seem to...

I use newly-released administrative data on properties owned by overseas companies to study the effect of foreign investment on the housing market in England and Wales. To estimate the causal effect, I construct an instrument for foreign investment based on economic shocks abroad. Foreign investment is found to have a positive effect on house price growth. This effect is present at different pe...

The present study adds a further link to the chain of studies on corruption and capital flows. It is argued here that not only does corruption reduce foreign direct investment inflows to a country, but also different forms of corruption have separately identifiable effects on the variable in question. Using data from Global Competitiveness report of the World Economic Forum, it is manifested in...

We explore the relation between international financial integration and the level of entrepreneurial activity in a country. Using a unique firm level data set of approximately 24 million firms in nearly 100 countries in 2004 and 1999, we find suggestive evidence that international financial integration has been associated with higher levels of entrepreneurial activity. Our results are robust to...