Influence of foreign direct investment on domestic investment in the Russian economy

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the empirical estimation of the effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) on domestic investment in the Russian economy. The results suggest that there are crowding-out effects of FDI on the Russian economy. Using the firm-level database for 2008—2017, we analyze the presence of foreign companies in the Russian economy on the region, industry and industry in region levels. On the regional level the statistically significant effects of crowding out domestic investment are identified for state-owned, large as well as less effective companies. On the industry level the negative effects of crowding out are observed in case when FDI share in the industry exceeds 25. Estimating the effect of FDI presence on the industry in the region level, we reveal crowding out effects mainly for private and more effective national companies. Analyzing the effects in case of different levels of FDI in the economy, we do not find support for the hypothesis of adaptation of national companies for foreign companies’ presence in the economy. The paper suggests that the government policy in FDI regulation should focus on mitigation of the effects of pushing national companies off the market, and also creating conditions for cooperation of foreign and domestic companies.