Trade and Foreign Direct Investment : Evidence from South East European Countries and New European Union Member States

The goal of this research is to provide an empirical assessment of the complementarity or substituting relationship between Trade and FDI in a link to country characteristics, using bilateral level data between FDI and trade for the period 1994-2010. In the research, an augmented gravity model has been used to test the relationship between Trade (both export and import), FDI stock and country characteristics between OECD-20 countries and SEE-5 and EU-NMS-10 countries. The empirical model considers how the relationship between FDI and Trade determine whether type of FDI into SEE-5 and EU-NMS-10 from core OECD-20 countries, is vertical or horizontal. With regard to the relationship between exports and FDI, the findings of the research showed mixed evidence, thus supporting vertical FDI for EU-NMS-10 countries, and horizontal FDI for SEE-5 countries. On the other hand, based on the relationship between imports and FDI, the results of the research supported vertical FDI for both EU-NMS-10 and SEE-5 group of countries. The basic conclusion is that the research provides an empirical evidence on the mixed nature of FDI into the host SEE-5 and EU-NMS-10 countries, supporting both complementary and substituting relationship between trade and FDI in the host countries