Global Investment Competitiveness Report 2019/2020

Rebuilding Investor Confidence in Times of Uncertainty

World Bank

• Publisher: World Bank Publications
• Year: 2020
• Topic: Economics
• eBook ISBN:
  9781464815430
• Subtopic: Development Economics
• Index: Economics

The Global Investment Competitiveness Report 2019-2020 provides novel analytical insights, empirical evidence, and actionable recommendations for governments seeking to enhance investor confidence in times of uncertainty. The report's findings and policy recommendations are organized around "3 ICs" - they provide guidance to governments on how to increase investments' contributions to their country's development, enhance investor confidence, and foster their economies' investment competitiveness. The report presents results of a new survey of more than 2,400 business executives representing FDI in 10 large developing countries: Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam. The results show that over half of surveyed foreign businesses have already been adversely affected by policy uncertainty, experiencing a decrease in employment, firm productivity, or investment. Foreign investors report that supporting political environments, stable macroeconomic conditions, and conducive regulatory regimes are their top three investment decision factors. Moreover, the report's new global database of regulatory risk shows that predictability and transparency increase investor confidence and FDI flows. The report also assesses the impact of FD! on poverty, inequality, employment, and firm performance using evidence from various countries. It shows that FDI in developing countries yields benefits to their firms and citizens-including more and better-paid jobs-but governments need to be vigilant about possible adverse consequences on income distribution. The report is organized in S chapters: Chapter 1 presents the results of the foreign investor survey. Chapter 2 explores the differential performance and development impact of greenfield FDI, local firms acquired by multinational corporations {i.e. brownfield FDI), and domestically-owned firms using evidence from six countries. Chapter 3 assesses the impact of FDI on poverty, inequality, employment and wages, using case study evidence from Ethiopia, Turkey and Vietnam. Chapter 4 presents a new framework to measure FDI regulatory risk that is linked to specific legal and regulatory measures. Chapter S focuses on factors for increasing the effectiveness of investment promotion agencies.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• About the Authors
• Abbreviations
• Main Messages
• Overview
• 1. Outlook and Priorities for Foreign Investors in Developing Countries: Findings from the 2019 Global Investment Competitiveness Survey in 10 Middle-Income Countries
• 2. How Beneficial Are Foreign Acquisitions of Firms in Developing Countries? Evidence from Six Countries
• 3. The Distributional Effects of FDI: Evidence from Ethiopia, Vietnam, and Turkey
• 4. Regulatory Risk and FDI
• 5. Increasing the Development Impact of Investment Promotion Agencies
• Glossary
• Boxes
• Back Cover