Using panel techniques, this paper estimates the causality among economic growth, exports, and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows for developing countries over the period of 1980 to 2008. The study indicates that; firstly, there is strong evidence of bidirectional causality between economic growth and FDI inflows. Secondly, the exports-led growth hypothesis is supported by the finding of unidirectional causality running from exports to economic growth in both the short-run and the long-run. Thirdly, export is not Granger caused by economic growth and FDI inflow in either the short run or the long run. On the basis of the obtained results, it is recommended that outwardoriented strategies and policies of attracting FDI be pursued by developing countries to achieve higher rates of economic growth. On the other hand, the countries can increase FDI inflows by stimulating their economic growth.

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This paper assesses the Willingness to Pay (WTP) for a publicly provided bike sharing service whose costs are in large part covered by the municipality of Vienna, Austria. The following characteristics render it valuable for analyses: the possibility to free ride, a (perceived) positive externality of use, negligible income effects, perfect substitutability, and the credibility of valuation scenarios. We also address the disparity between Willingness to Accept (WTA) and WTP, and we find a mean WTP of EUR 1.2 for the bike sharing system and a disparity of 2:1 (WTA to WTP). Female participants as well as respondents who condition their valuation on those of others are willing to contribute more; and surprisingly those who actually use the bike sharing system as well as environmentally concerned respondents have a lower WTP. This Environmental Concern Paradox can be explained by an incorporation of positive externalities into individual valuation decisions.

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