Impact of Financial Markets on Attracting Foreign Investment: An Analytical Study of the Iraq Stock Exchange (2010–2024)

Saif Ghalib Yassin

Journal of Accounting and Finance in Emerging Economies, 2026, vol. 12, issue 1, 103-112

Abstract: Purpose: This study examines whether financial market development contributed to attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) in Iraq during 2010–2024.Design/Methodology/Approach: Annual data from UNCTAD, the World Bank, the Central Bank of Iraq, and the Iraqi Securities Commission were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and parsimonious ordinary least squares models.Findings: The Iraq Stock Exchange expanded noticeably, especially after 2021, but this progress did not coincide with a stable improvement in aggregate FDI inflows. The relationship between stock market indicators and FDI remained weak to mixed; specifically, FDI was weakly negatively correlated with market capitalization (r = -0.253) and more clearly negatively correlated with the ISX60 index (r = -0.542).Implications/Originality/Value: The study shows that financial market reform is necessary for investment readiness in Iraq, but its effect on foreign investment depends on broader institutional, political, and macroeconomic conditions.

Keywords: Investment Climate; Emerging Markets; Iraq Stock Exchange; Foreign Direct Investment; Financial Markets (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://publishing.globalcsrc.org/ojs/index.php/jafee/article/view/3546/1993 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:src:jafeec:v:12:y:2026:i:1:p:103-112

DOI: 10.26710/jafee.v12i1.3546

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of Accounting and Finance in Emerging Economies from CSRC Publishing, Center for Sustainability Research and Consultancy Pakistan Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Rabia Rasheed ().