Foreign direct investment and the determinants of the regional distribution: the case of five Asian countries.

Abstract

FDI is an issue widely tested in the economic literature, as it has become an important factor that contributed to the gradual growth of the less developed world the last decades. The first goal of this thesis is to offer substantial information about what exactly FDI is, its measurement and its potential benefits and drawbacks. A second goal is to offer a historical review of FDI, which indicates the progress of FDI activity up to nowadays. Moreover, the thesis gives emphasis and demonstrates through tables and figures the geographical and sectoral distribution of FDI worldwide. Finally, through an empirical investigation based on panel data methods, the relationship between FDI inflows in five south Asian countries and their potential determinants is revealed.