The effects of economic policy uncertainty on outward foreign direct investment
Hui-Ching Hsieh,
Sofia Boarelli and
Thi Huyen Chi Vu
International Review of Economics & Finance, 2019, vol. 64, issue C, 377-392
Abstract:
This research article aims to analyze the impact that economic policy uncertainty has on foreign direct investment (FDI), which has long remained elusive due to the challenge of thoroughly and accurately quantifying uncertainty. For this purpose, the recently developed Economic Policy Uncertainty Index (EPU Index) is used as a measure of economic policy uncertainty for both the U.S. and a panel of twenty U.S. Direct Investment Abroad (USDIA) host countries. The results demonstrate a strong causal link between the level of economy policy uncertainty and U.S. outward FDI flow. Outward FDI is found to peak three quarters after a shock in the domestic EPU Index, and to decrease two quarters after a shock in the host country's EPU Index. Our findings indicate the relevance of economic policy uncertainty for the investment decisions of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the U.S., and show that it could represent a tool policy makers could use to forecast and monitor changes in foreign direct flow.
Keywords: Economic policy uncertainty; Outward foreign direct investment; FDI determinants; U.S. multinational enterprise (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D81 F21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (25)
Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056018304362
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
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:eee:reveco:v:64:y:2019:i:c:p:377-392
DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2019.08.004
Access Statistics for this article
International Review of Economics & Finance is currently edited by H. Beladi and C. Chen
More articles in International Review of Economics & Finance from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().