Productivity Effects of FDI Inflows: A Literature Review

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows have increased substantially in the past two decades. These developments have motivated the appearance of a large number of empirical papers that test the expected benefits that FDI inflows are assumed to bring to the host countries. We survey the recent theoretical and empirical literature, but restrict our attention to the productivity changes that are induced by increased FDI inflows. We review both the aggregate productivity effects, as well as the spillover effects of FDI on local firms.