This paper argues that inflows of foreign direct investment can facilitate export upgrading in host countries. Using customs data merged with firm-level information for 2005-2011, it shows a positive relationship between the quality of products exported by Romanian firms and the presence of...

We exploit an extensive database on more than 32,000 greenfield projects over 2003-2020 to examine how the composition of greenfield FDI inflows into the EBRD regions has changed over time, and what this implies for employment generation, inequality and spatial disparities. Our results suggest...

The paper provides a cross-country empirical analysis of the impact of corruption on foreign direct investment flows. The gravity model estimates suggest that if control of corruption in the destination country improves, investment flows from cleaner countries rise more than they do from...

Governments frequently offer multinational companies various incentives in the hope that they will generate benefits to the local economy. But evidence of these benefits remains inconclusive. Do foreign owners actually improve technical efficiency at acquired firms or are they driven more by...

Governments frequently offer multinational companies various incentives in the hope that they will generate benefits to the local economy. But evidence of these benefits remains inconclusive. Do foreign owners actually improve technical efficiency at acquired firms or are they driven more by...

This paper reviews the literature on the benefits and risks of global banking, with a focus on emerging Europe. It argues that while the potential destabilising impact of global banks was well understood before the 2008-09 financial crisis, the sheer magnitude of this impact in the case of...

This paper uses data from more than 100 developing economies to provide information on firms engaging in international trade in either manufacturing or services, focusing on the Middle East and North Africa. We show, among other things, that firms in this region are more likely to export,...

This study argues that the ability to mitigate risks associated with international trade is particularly important at times of heightened uncertainty, such as the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Risk mitigation can be achieved through letters of credit (LCs), trade finance...

Countries in the Western Balkans – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYR Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia – all aspire to membership of the European Union, but they face a major convergence challenge in terms of living standards. The main reason behind this prosperity gap lies in the...

We use data on credit in Turkey to document a strong political lending cycle. State-owned banks systematically adjust their lending around local elections compared with private banks in the same province. There is considerable tactical redistribution: state-owned banks increase credit in...