[Rejoinder]: How to change a constitution by hand-waving (Or, the unbearable lightness of evidence in support of lifting foreign ownership restrictions)

Toby Monsod, Aleli Kraft, Cielo Magno, Jan Carlo Punongbayan, Orville Jose Solon, Elizabeth Tan, Agustin Arcenas, Florian Alburo and Emmanuel de Dios
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Toby Monsod: School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman
Aleli Kraft: School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman
Cielo Magno: School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman
Jan Carlo Punongbayan: School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman
Orville Jose Solon: School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman
Elizabeth Tan: School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman
Agustin Arcenas: College of Public Affairs and Development, University of the Philippines Los Baños
Florian Alburo: School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman
Emmanuel de Dios: School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman

No 202401b, UP School of Economics Discussion Papers from University of the Philippines School of Economics

Abstract: We are pleased to note that the discussion paper we wrote (“How to change a constitution by handwaving†*) has attracted some interest from the public and observers of economic policy. Among the more thoughtful responses the paper has received is that from the Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF). Indeed, their response concedes the main point of our paper, which is that compared with lifting foreign-equity restrictions: “Corruption and infrastructure gaps may well be more significant turnoffs for foreign investors.†Notwithstanding this, the FEF response incongruously then insists that “removing the restrictions is a necessary condition†. To insist on their conclusion, the FEF challenges our interpretation of the quantitative evidence as well as presents illustrative anecdotes or events meant to repair what they perceive as our paper’s being “ahistorical and devoid of historical context†. Here, we set the record straight on both FEF’s appreciation of the econometric evidence and on the anecdotes they recount.

Keywords: foreign direct investment; multinational enterprises; foreign equity restrictions, constitutional change, empirical models of investment distribution; influences on the distribution of direct foreign investments; rules versus discretion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F14 F21 F23 F60 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 7 pages
Date: 2024-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-fdg and nep-sea
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Published as UPSE Discussion Paper No. 2024-01b, April 2024

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