Meta-Analysis of Intra-Industry FDI Spillovers: Updated Evidence

Abstract:     
The present paper conducts a meta-analysis of literature on intra-industry productivity spillovers from foreign direct investment. Apart from the traditional approach, robust meta-regression, random effects model, and probit meta-regression are employed. Results of combined significance analysis are mixed but it is apparent that papers published in leading academic journals tend to report rather insignificant results. Our findings suggest that cross-sectional and industry-level studies are likely to find relatively strong spillover effects, and that the choice of proxy for foreign presence is important. The pattern, however, seems to weaken over time. Contrary to previous studies, evidence for publication bias was not detected.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 38

Keywords: meta-analysis, productivity spillovers, technology transfer, foreign direct investment, multinational companies

JEL Classification: C42, D62, F21, F23, O3

working papers series