This paper analyzes the factors of FDI inflows in ASEAN countries over the period 1991 to 2009. The results indicate that the market size, trade openness, quality infrastructure, human capital, labor productivity are the main factors that have positive impacts on FDI inflows. Additionally, exchange rate policy, real interest rate, political risk and corruption also affect FDI inflows. Surprisingly, the cheap labor does not help to attract FDI to the region, because foreign investors are particularly interested in labor productivity. This study also shows that the Asian financial crisis in 1997 affected the amount of FDI inflows, but not on the nature of FDI inflows in the region.Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved. 5
In this paper, we explore the dominant forms of foreign direct investment (FDI) (horizontal, vertical, export-platform, and complex vertical) in ASEAN countries. To account for the heterogeneity in FDI forms according to their origins, we examine separately extra-ASEAN and intra-ASEAN FDI in ASEAN countries. Using macro-level annual data covering nine countries over 1999-2011 and spatial econometric models, we find that the significance and the signs of the coefficients for the determinants of FDI and of spatial interactions provide an indirect way to test the dominance of particular forms of FDI over others. Our results suggest that the location of extra-ASEAN FDI is affected by host country characteristics (such as market size, infrastructure quality, political stability, trade costs) and by FDI in neighboring countries. Then, extra-ASEAN FDI inflows seem to be dominated by complex vertical FDI. In contrast, the location of intra-ASEAN FDI is affected by a host country's political stability and market size, but also by the market potential of neighboring markets, suggesting that intra-ASEAN FDI inflows are dominated by export-platform FDI. The significance of spatial interactions for both origins of flows warrants the acceleration of economic integration between ASEAN countries to continuously attract FDI.
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