Institutional quality is commonly cited as a reason that investment infl ows still vary across European countries, despite their economic stabilization following the tumultuous years in the early 1990s. This article tests empirically whether institutional quality has any bearing on the level of investment infl ows into selected groups of European countries. The role of institutions is assessed using Economic Freedom indices from the Heritage Foundation. We construct a panel dataset from 2000–2015 for 35 European countries to apply a fixed-effects and generalized method of moments model framework in the regression benchmark with the metrics from the Heritage Foundation. Results show that although institutional quality has some impact on the level of investment, it is less significant than expected and far less than suggested by the existing theoretical literature. Macroeconomic fundamentals matter more than do institutional factors.

This article investigates the relationship between institutional quality and the level of investment inflows into post-communist countries. We attempt to empirically verify the argument that institutional determinants are essential in explaining the variation in investment inflows into transition economies after the demise of socialism in the early 1990s. The role of institutions is assessed using Economic Freedom indices provided by the Heritage Foundation. Consequently, to investigate the progress of institutional quality in transition economies, we further employ indicators developed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Using a panel data set for 11 transition countries from 1993 to 2013, we conclude that the impact of institutional quality on investment inflows is not negligible, yet much weaker than suggested by the existing theoretical literature. Using a fixed-effects model framework in both regression benchmarks with metrics from the Heritage Foundation and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, respectively, we observe that the impact of institutional variables on the level of investment was less significant than expected. Moreover, macroeconomic fundamentals appear to always play a more substantial role than institutional factors.