FDI And Economic Growth In South And East Asia & Pacific Region: Evidence From Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Economic growth is considered to be a function of investment and other factors. While there
is a theoretical consensus on this aspect, empirically the role of inward FDI on economic
growth has been and still is a subject of long and intense debate. The objective of this study is
to address the impact of inward FDI on economic growth empirically with a view to
providing a meta-synthesis of the empirical evidence on the direct effects of inward FDI on
economic growth in South and East Asia & Pacific countries. Based on 633 estimates from
37 empirical studies, the results of this study indicate that FDI has a negative and significant
effect. Our results have important policy implications.