Does the Host Country’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Restrictiveness Inhibit the Export Sophistication of the Home Country? Evidence from China’s Manufacturing Data

Jiazhen Ren, Apurbo Sarkar, Hong Li and Xiaojing Li ()
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Jiazhen Ren: School of Economics and Management, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, China
Apurbo Sarkar: School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
Hong Li: School of Economics, Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, Tianjin 300222, China
Xiaojing Li: School of Economics and Management, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 22, 1-20

Abstract: Since the going-global approach of Chinese enterprises has accelerated, the host country’s foreign direct investments (FDI) restrictiveness index has dramatically influenced the upgrading of China’s trade structure. This study investigates the relationship between the host country’s FDI restrictiveness index and the export sophistication of the home country. Using two-way fixed-impact models and firm-based microcosmic data, it verifies the impacts of reverse technology spillover (RTS) by the intermediary model. The empirical outcomes illustrate that the host country’s FDI restrictiveness index significantly inhibits the export sophistication of the home country. In particular, overseas equity restrictions, selection and endorsement requirements, and additional operational limitations hold more substantial influence. However, the limits on key foreign experts have promoted the export sophistication of the home country. Seemingly, host countries’ FDI restrictiveness has inhibited export sophistication in the textile industry and the processing of the resource industry but promoted the same in the mechanical and electronic industries. Likewise, the host country’s FDI restrictiveness impacts the export sophistication of the home nation through resource allocation. Manufacturing enterprises increased export sophistication by guiding resource allocation, and export trade models were changed from the previous quantitative competition to quality competition.

Keywords: FDI; restrictiveness; export sophistication; reverse technology; spillover; resource allocation; 2SLS estimation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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