The impact of development strategy choice on capital mobility and economic growth

Abstract

AbstractForeign direct investment (FDI) has been widely acknowledged as a prominent vehicle to transfer technology, increase productivity and promote economic growth in recipient countries. However, FDI's contribution to economic growth can be more or less pronounced across countries conditioned on the development strategy adopted. This paper theoretically and empirically explores the impact of FDI inflows on economic growth when a comparative advantage development strategy is followed and when it is defied. By employing cross‐country panel data evidence for 72 countries over the 1971–2019 period, the results suggest that FDI is an essential driver for economic growth. However, the greater the level of defiance from comparative advantages estimated by the technology choice index (TCI), the lower the FDI inflow contributes to economic growth. The findings are more significant for the instrumental variable approach postulating the potential endogeneity of FDI and TCI and decomposed FDI by sector.