Determinants of foreign direct investment Blonigen, Bruce A.; Piger, Jeremy
The Canadian journal of economics,
August/Août 2014, Volume:
47, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Empirical studies of bilateral foreign direct investment (FDI) activity show substantial differences in specifications with little agreement on the set of included covariates. We use Bayesian ...statistical techniques that allow one to select from a large set of candidates those variables most likely to be determinants of FDI activity. The variables with consistently high inclusion probabilities include traditional gravity variables, cultural distance factors, relative labour endowments and trade agreements. There is little support for multilateral trade openness, most host-country business costs, host-country infrastructure and host-country institutions. Our results suggest that many covariates found significant by previous studies are not robust. Les études empiriques des déterminants des activités d'investissement direct bilatéral à l'étranger ont des spécifications substantiellement différentes et peu d'accord sur les variables co-reliées incluses. On utilise des techniques statistiques bayesiennes qui permettent de balayer un vaste ensemble de variables à la recherche de celles qui sont davantage susceptibles d'être des déterminants des activités d'investissement direct à l'étranger. Les variables qui se retrouvent de manière régulière dans la liste de haute probabilité d'impact sont les variables reliées à la gravité, les facteurs liés à la distance culturelle, les dotations relatives en facteur travail, et les accords commerciaux. Il y a peu de support pour des variables comme l'ouverture au commerce multilatéral, la plupart des coûts d'affaires, les infrastructures et les institutions dans les pays hôtes. Ces résultats suggèrent que plusieurs co-variations qu'on a jugées significatives dans les études antérieures ne sont pas robustes.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, INZLJ, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NMLJ, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK, ZRSKP
Widely used since the mid-twentieth century, GDP (gross domestic product) has become the world's most powerful statistical indicator of national development and progress. Practically all governments ...adhere to the idea that GDP growth is a primary economic target, and while criticism of this measure has grown, neither its champions nor its detractors deny its central importance in our political culture.
InThe Power of a Single Number, Philipp Lepenies recounts the lively history of GDP's political acceptance-and eventual dominance. Locating the origins of GDP measurements in Renaissance England, Lepenies explores the social and political factors that originally hindered its use. It was not until the early 1900s that an ingenuous lone-wolf economist revived and honed GDP's statistical approach. These ideas were then extended by John Maynard Keynes, and a more focused study of national income was born. American economists furthered this work by emphasizing GDP's ties to social well-being, setting the stage for its ascent. GDP finally achieved its singular status during World War II, assuming the importance it retains today. Lepenies's absorbing account helps us understand the personalities and popular events that propelled GDP to supremacy and clarifies current debates over the wisdom of the number's rule.
Whenever there is a question of environmental quality and economic prosperity, renewable energy consumption leads the debate. Ghana is a country blessed with a lot of renewable energy resources. ...However, Ghana depends on non-renewable energy to fuel its economy. This study investigates the direct impact and indirect impact of renewable energy on economic growth using both the Granger causality and the mediation model in its analysis based on data from 1990 to 2015. The variables used for this research are renewable energy, the gross domestic product, foreign direct investment, gross capital formation, and trade. The outcome shows a feedback effect among economic growth and renewable energy consumption, but renewable energy consumption does not have a significant indirect impact on economic growth. Renewable energy has a significant total impact on economic growth. Therefore, the increase in renewable energy consumption has a total positive effect on economic growth. The empirical results of our study suggest that, the use of renewable energy should be encouraged to promote economic growth.
•Renewable energy and economic growth in Ghana.•Renewable energy has a total indirect and direct impact on economic growth in Ghana.•Gross capital formation as a moderator has direct impact on economic growth in Ghana.•Renewable energy cause foreign direct investment in Ghana.•Economic growth cause renewable energy consumption in Ghana.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
To address global challenges
, 193 countries have committed to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
. Quantifying progress towards achieving the SDGs is essential to track ...global efforts towards sustainable development and guide policy development and implementation. However, systematic methods for assessing spatio-temporal progress towards achieving the SDGs are lacking. Here we develop and test systematic methods to quantify progress towards the 17 SDGs at national and subnational levels in China. Our analyses indicate that China's SDG Index score (an aggregate score representing the overall performance towards achieving all 17 SDGs) increased at the national level from 2000 to 2015. Every province also increased its SDG Index score over this period. There were large spatio-temporal variations across regions. For example, eastern China had a higher SDG Index score than western China in the 2000s, and southern China had a higher SDG Index score than northern China in 2015. At the national level, the scores of 13 of the 17 SDGs improved over time, but the scores of four SDGs declined. This study suggests the need to track the spatio-temporal dynamics of progress towards SDGs at the global level and in other nations.
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FZAB, GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
...companies need new business models to create private and public value. ...materials become scarce and costs rise. ...a global platform should be established for sharing knowledge about the ...circular economy. ...policymakers should develop ways to enforce regulations, settle disputes and implement sanctions on a global scale.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Postpartum depression (PPD) poses a major global public health challenge. PPD is the most common complication associated with childbirth and exerts harmful effects on children. Although hundreds of ...PPD studies have been published, we lack accurate global or national PPD prevalence estimates and have no clear account of why PPD appears to vary so dramatically between nations. Accordingly, we conducted a meta-analysis to estimate the global and national prevalence of PPD and a meta-regression to identify economic, health, social, or policy factors associated with national PPD prevalence.
We conducted a systematic review of all papers reporting PPD prevalence using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. PPD prevalence and methods were extracted from each study. Random effects meta-analysis was used to estimate global and national PPD prevalence. To test for country level predictors, we drew on data from UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank. Random effects meta-regression was used to test national predictors of PPD prevalence.
291 studies of 296284 women from 56 countries were identified. The global pooled prevalence of PPD was 17.7% (95% confidence interval: 16.6-18.8%), with significant heterogeneity across nations (
= 16,823,
= 0.000,
= 98%), ranging from 3% (2-5%) in Singapore to 38% (35-41%) in Chile. Nations with significantly higher rates of income inequality (
= 41%), maternal mortality (
= 19%), infant mortality (
= 16%), or women of childbearing age working ≥40 h a week (
= 31%) have higher rates of PPD. Together, these factors explain 73% of the national variation in PPD prevalence.
The global prevalence of PPD is greater than previously thought and varies dramatically by nation. Disparities in wealth inequality and maternal-child-health factors explain much of the national variation in PPD prevalence.
Democracy Does Cause Growth Acemoglu, Daron; Naidu, Suresh; Restrepo, Pascual ...
The Journal of political economy,
02/2019, Volume:
127, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
We provide evidence that democracy has a positive effect on GDP per capita. Our dynamic panel strategy controls for country fixed effects and the rich dynamics of GDP, which otherwise confound the ...effect of democracy. To reduce measurement error, we introduce a new indicator of democracy that consolidates previous measures. Our baseline results show that democratizations increase GDP per capita by about 20 percent in the long run. We find similar effects using a propensity score reweighting strategy as well as an instrumental-variables strategy using regional waves of democratization. The effects are similar across different levels of development and appear to be driven by greater investments in capital, schooling, and health.
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CEKLJ, INZLJ, IZUM, KILJ, NMLJ, NUK, PILJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK, ZRSKP
Mountains are the water towers of the world, supplying a substantial part of both natural and anthropogenic water demands
. They are highly sensitive and prone to climate change
, yet their ...importance and vulnerability have not been quantified at the global scale. Here we present a global water tower index (WTI), which ranks all water towers in terms of their water-supplying role and the downstream dependence of ecosystems and society. For each water tower, we assess its vulnerability related to water stress, governance, hydropolitical tension and future climatic and socio-economic changes. We conclude that the most important (highest WTI) water towers are also among the most vulnerable, and that climatic and socio-economic changes will affect them profoundly. This could negatively impact 1.9 billion people living in (0.3 billion) or directly downstream of (1.6 billion) mountainous areas. Immediate action is required to safeguard the future of the world's most important and vulnerable water towers.
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FZAB, GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Climate change will have far-reaching consequence for the future of tourism. A Climate Change Vulnerability Index for Tourism (CVIT) comprised of 27 indicators provides a transparent and systematic ...first analysis of the differential vulnerability of the tourism sector in 181 countries. Countries with the lowest vulnerability are found in western and northern Europe, central Asia, Canada and New Zealand. High sector vulnerability is found in Africa, Middle East, South Asia and Small Island Developing States. Vulnerability is highest in many countries where tourism represents the largest proportion of GDP and regions where tourism growth is expected to be the strongest over the coming decades. Climate change will pose an increasing barrier to tourism contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals.
•Lowest climate change vulnerability for tourism is found in higher-latitude OECD countries•Highest climate change vulnerability often coincides with highest sector GDP contribution•Highest vulnerability exists in regions where tourism growth is expected to be the strongest•Climate change will pose an increasing barrier to tourism contributions to UN SDGs•Consideration of climate change should be strengthened in tourism development plans
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
This paper examines the macroeconomic factors influencing the profitability performance of private telecommunication firms in Malaysia. A yearly basis data between 2007 and 2016, which contained a ...total number of 49 data observations were analyzed using the Random Effects Model to estimate the factors of concern. The sources of these data have been predominantly extracted from DataStream. The variables involved in this investigation were liquidity (LIQ), leverage (LEV), firm size (SIZE), and gross domestic product (GDP). This study has been motivated by the declining profitability performance of private telecommunication firms in Malaysia, which has been attributed to the decreasing return on assets. The findings suggest that leverage has a significant and negative relationship with return on assets, while liquidity has a negative insignificant towards the firms’ profitability. On the other hand, firm size and gross domestic product have a substantial and positive relationship with return on assets. Moreover, the findings seemed to suggest that the bigger the size of a firm, the higher the total assets would be, which in turn, would improve the firm’s profitable performance. In sum, the prerequisite attribute that a telecommunication firm needed to possess in attaining high profitability performance was its strong and high productivity in the management of its total assets.
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