Roads to Prosperity? Determinants of FDI in China and ASEAN

Abstract

Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows remain an important source of external financing for several countries in the Asian region including China and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc of economies. Greenfield FDI inflows particularly have facilitated the development of regional production networks and manufacturing supply chains in Asia. While it is well known that these economies have prioritized infrastructural development as a means of developing their manufacturing prowess, to what degree has the quality of physical infrastructure actually influenced FDI inflows coming into the region? By constructing a panel data for China as well as the ASEAN bloc for two decades from 1995 to 2016, we investigate the importance of infrastructure in determining Greenfield FDI inflows into these economies. Our results strongly suggest that roads emerge as the most robust determinant of Greenfield FDI inflows to China and ASEAN.