Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on Tax Revenue: The Case of the European Union

Abstract

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is an extremely important factor that promotes national competitiveness and economic development through technology transfer, new management skills, foreign trade, corporate productivity, etc. This study aims to analyze the significance of FDI and its impact on tax revenue and competitiveness, focusing on the European Union (EU) economy. An empirical analysis is conducted to determine the relationship between inward and outward FDI and tax revenue by employing data on EU countries between 1999 and 2019. The data were extracted from the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) database and the World Development Indicators database (WDI) of the World Bank. To fulfill the objective of this study and to determine the effect of FDI on tax revenue, an econometric model was developed. The research methods include systematic and comparative analysis of scientific literature, panel data analysis, and multiple regression analysis. The regression analysis was based on the least-squares method, and the estimates of the econometric models were calculated by identifying robust heteroscedasticity-consistent standard errors. The study results reveal that the outward FDI has a significant stimulating impact on total tax revenue. In contrast, inward FDI has a dampening effect on tax revenue. The analysis of the lagging effect of FDI on tax revenue in the EU member states revealed a statistically significant lagging impact of the outward FDI made two years before. The estimations indicate that the lagging effect is an incentive. No statistically significant lagging effect of the inward FDI flows on tax revenue was found.