The main goal of the paper is to obtain quantitative evidence describing determinants of FDI in the case of the Czech economy in order to empirically support the decision-making process within the Czech National Bank. The paper builds on the recent economic literature and at the same time examines FDI inflows from the perspective of a multinational company. Furthermore, the microeconomic and macroeconomic characteristics of a potential host country which are crucial for multinational companies' investment decisions are examined. Since government investment incentives seem to play a role in attracting foreign direct investors the paper provides some details on the Czech economic environment regarding this issue. To reach those objectives a cointegration analysis and error-correction model is used to identify the most important determinants of FDI inflows in the Czech Republic by developing an econometric model for analytic purposes. The empirical results presented in the paper support the hypothesis that the most significant determinants of FDI inflow into the Czech economy correspond to the theoretically considered and empirically tested factors. The paper, therefore, provides some basis for analysing the character of foreign investment and assessing the role of the government in attracting FDI inflows to the Czech Republic. More specifically, the empirical results suggest that establishing and maintaining macroeconomic stability and external equilibrium, offering a consistent and competitive package of investment incentives and promotion, and an efficient financing infrastructure, public governance regime and social system are the key factors promoting foreign direct investment inflows.
Keywords: Determinants, empirical analysis, foreign direct investment, incentives
Issued: June 2004
Download CNB WP No. 5/2004 (pdf, 309 kB)
