Foreign direct investment as a factor of trade development: cases of selected countries

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to identify the specifics and common features of the foreign direct investment (FDI) impact on foreign trade development in the Visegrad Group countries (the Czech Republic, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Poland and the Slovak Republic), to determine trade-related effects of FDI in the economies and the factors that caused them, as well as to highlight key points of the policy of FDI-led export expansion. The methodological basis of the study is presented by the theories of FDI and capital transnationalization that affect the FDI and international trade nexus, as well as the global value chains (GVCs) theories. The information base for the study was the UNCTAD data on FDI stock, FDI flows, merchandise and services exports and imports of the Visegrad countries for the period 1995–2017, as well as the databases of WTO, Eurostat and Central statistical offices of the Visegrad countries. The paper adds to the understanding the FDI and foreign trade nexus in a recipient country. The quantitative and qualitative trade-related effects of FDI attracted into the Visegrad Group countries are determined and calculated, the factors caused them are revealed. Econometric assessments of the relationship between FDI and export-import operations in the studied economies are carried out, tools for forecasting the export effects of FDI are developed. Key points of the policy of FDI-led export expansion are highlighted.