UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL STUDIES HO CHI MINH CITY THE HAGUE VIETNAM THE NETHERLANDS VIETNAM - NETHERLANDS PROGRAMME FOR M.A IN DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS THE IMPACTS OF EXPORT AND FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT ON TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY: EVIDENCE FROM CROSS COUNTRY ANALYSIS BY QUAN MINH QUOC BINH MASTER OF ARTS IN DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY, MARCH 2012 UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL STUDIES HO CHI MINH CITY THE HAGUE VIETNAM THE NETHERLANDS VIETNAM - NETHERLANDS PROGRAMME FOR M.A IN DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS THE IMPACTS OF EXPORT AND FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT ON TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY: EVIDENCE FROM CROSS COUNTRY ANALYSIS A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS By QUAN MINH QUOC BINH Academic Supervisors: Assc. PHAM HOANG VAN Assc. NGUYEN TRONG HOAI HO CHI MINH CITY, MARCH 2012 CERTIFICATION “I certify that the substance of this thesis has not already been submitted for any degree and have not been currently submitted for any other degree. I certify that to the best of my knowledge and help received in preparing this thesis and all sources used have been acknowledged in this thesis.” QUAN MINH QUOC BINH ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The process of writing a thesis is a collaborative experience involving the support and helps from many people.
I want to express my gratitude to those who give me the tremendous support to complete this thesis. I am deeply indebted to my parents for their invaluable support and constant encouragement. From my early childhood, my parents always teach me valuable lessons on the importance of learning. The boundless love of my parents have accompanied with me as I continue my long journey on the pathway of intellectual acquisition.
Associate Professor Doctor Pham Hoang Van, Lecturer at Department of Economics, Baylor University (USA), Fulbright Scholar, is a superb supervisor. He has encouraged me to pursue this topic from the initial ideas to the final completion. His wholehearted guidance, incredible patience, and useful discussions have enabled me to develop a deeply understanding on my thesis. Equally, I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to Associate Professor Doctor Nguyen Trong Hoai, Lecturer at Department of Economic Development, University of Economics (HCMC), my second supervisor, for his valuable suggestions during the time I write this thesis.
His wide knowledge, excellent advice and logical way of thinking have provided me a good basis in present this thesis. I also take this chance to convey my warm and sincere thanks to Professor Arjun Singh Bedi who have a remarkable influence on my love of academic research. His constructive comments have great value in my study. During my time at VNP, I receive a great encouragement and help from many friends, and I am grateful to Ms Ngo Hoang Thao Trang, Ms Chau Ngoc Thao Nguyen, my close friends, for motivating me to overcome all difficulties in my life.
In addition, my special thanks should send to Mr. Nguyen Dinh Quy (Programme Librarian) and Ms. Tang Thi Xuan Hong (Programme Secretary) for their help and sharing of their resources to complete this thesis successfully and in time. Finally, I take a pride in myself for working very hard to finish this thesis.
I realize that after each success stories, there is a process of lots of hard works, difficulties, obstacles and overcoming. Even in the hardest time when I write this thesis, I always believe that great efforts will eventually to be paid off. Thank for the great time to learn and to grow up. Quan Minh Quoc Binh March 2012 ABSTRACT We study the role of export and foreign direct investment on total factor productivity growth in a sample of both developed and developing countries from 1996 to 2009.
We start by employing growth accounting exercise to estimate TFP growth of 103 countries and find out it determinants. We also provide a global picture about TFPG’s performance of countries in the world. By pointing out the limitations of previous researches that fail to take into account the potential of endogeneity between FDI and TFPG as well as export and TFPG, this thesis contributes to the current literature by developing two new instrumental variables for export and FDI to overcome endogeneity problem. Two new instrumental variable have proved their highly effectiveness in removing endogeneity bias.
We carefully check the robustness of our findings by employing panel data techniques to reestimate the model that used in cross section exercise. We also employ one lagged value of FDI and export to control for problem of reversed causality running from TFPG to export and FDI. In empirical analysis, my research finds a robust and positive statistically significant association between export and TFP growth. The finding emphasizes the indispensable role of export in enhancing TFP growth.
Interestingly, my thesis asserts the existence of negative linkage between FDI and TFPG. This finding is sharply contrasts with conventional wisdom of many people who think that FDI inflows will benefit for TFP growth. From policy perspective, we recommend that a sound macroeconomic stability, moderate government expenditure together with policies to foster export-oriented industries are always needed for a better performance in TFP growth. We also suggest that government should invest more in education to increase in quality and skill of human capital.
Government also needs to spend more money in training programs for the workforce to learn how to apply advanced technology into production. ABBREVIATIONS FDI Foreign Direct Investment FEM Fixed Effect Model OLS Ordinary Least Square R&D Research and Development TFP Total Factor Productivity TFPG Total Factor Productivity Growth 2SLS Two Stage Least Square TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION. Organization of The Study .3 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW. Total Factor Productivity.
Exogenous Growth Theory. Endogenous Growth Theory .1 Learning by Doing Model. Determinants of TFP & TFPG .24 CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. Methods in TFP Level and TFP Growth Measure.
The Regression Method. The Growth Accounting Method. Data for Dependent Variable TFPG. Data for Independent Variables.
Model for Cross Section Data. Definition of Variables used in Regression. Model for Panel Data .40 CHAPTER IV: EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS. Overview of TFPG Performance in The World.
Empirical Result from Cross Section Data. Empirical Result from Panel Data .51 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS. Limitations and further research .65 LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: Summary of empirical studies relating to the determinants of TFPG .1: The definition of variables in the model .1: Cross Country Regression About The Determinants of TFPG.2: Panel Data Regression For The Determinants of TFPG .53 Table A1: List of 103 countries in my sample .65 Table A2: TFP growth (%) of 103 countries by regions from 1996 to 2009 .67 Table A3: Ranking of average TFPG rates (%) of 103 countries 2005-2009.71 Table A4: Descriptive Statistics of Variables .73 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Conceptual framework of determinants of TFPG .1: Trend of Total factor productivity growth.42 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix 1: List of 103 countries in my sample .65 Appendix 2: TFP growth (%) of 103 countries by regions .67 Appendix 3: Ranking of average TFP growth rates .71 Appendix 4: Descriptive Statistics .73 Appendix 5: Regression Result From Cross Section Data .74 Appendix 6: Regression Result From Panel Data .79 Appendix 7: Statistical Tests. Problem Statement It is widely believed that productivity or efficiency of an economy is the most important determinant of income in the long run.
Solow (1956) explained that economic growth without technological progress (one source of productivity gains) can not be sustained and would be stopped in the long run. Parente and Prescott (2004) and Hall and Jones (1996) show that productivity differences explain the large part of income differences across countries. Because of the importance of productivity to income, many scholars and researchers have studied possible factors that can affect productivity. In recent years, cross border investment and trade activities have increased remarkably despite the severe impacts of global financial crisis.
In 2010, global foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows increase $1.24 trillion, and it is expected to rise further towards $1. More importantly, FDI and trade are considered as important sources of economic growth, especially for developing countries. However, the empirical question whether FDI and trade benefit for productivity growth in different countries at different stage of development is still a question of debated. In this research, I study differences in productivity growth across countries in the world from 1996-2009 and possible factors that affect productivity growth.
In particular, I look at export and foreign direct investment (FDI) as two channels through which efficiency and productivity are affected. If we think of productivity and efficiency as reflecting technology and production knowledge, then exports and FDI are ways that best practices from the outside can be transmitted to the domestic economy. While the impacts of export and FDI on economic growth have got plenty attention by many scholars, the research on the impact of these factor on TFP still lags behind. Until now, there are few studies of the impact of export and foreign 1 direct investment on TFP, and those empirical researches that take into account the linkage of export or FDI on TFP fail to deal with endogeneity problem.
My paper contribute to the current literature by constructing new instrumental variables for export and FDI, and we use a largest data set which includes more countries with additional years, especially taken into account the impact of global financial crisis on TFPG. Research Objectives My main research objectives are listed below: To measure productivity growth in 103 countries (including Vietnam) in the period 1996-2009. After that, I use data of productivity growth at the country level which is calculated above to examine whether exporting and FDI has played any role in increasing productivity in the world. To suggest policies to speed up total factor productivity growth of countries in the world.
Research Questions In order to achieve these objectives, my thesis is in an effort to find out answers for the three following research questions: a. How does productivity growth vary across countries? b. Do exports have a positive impact on productivity growth at country level? c. Does FDI has a positive impact on productivity growth at country level? 1.
Research Methodology My research intended to use quantitative method by analyzing data of 103 countries from 1996 to 2009. First, I employ cross section data analysis to find out the impacts of FDI and export on TFP. I also address the problem of endogeneity which is the central of our empirical analysis. Because of the possibility of endogeneity between export, FDI and TFP.
I will instrument export by the land area variable and FDI by lag FDI, distance from equator (latitude) and land area variables, and I will run two stage least square regression (2SLS) with these 2 instruments. As a more comprehensive ways of robustness check, I also report the result from panel regressions. The use of panel data has many advantages such as we could control for unobserved heterogeneity and to rule out the bias of omitted variable. Organization of the study My paper consists of five main chapters.
After this introduction chapter, the remaining of this thesis is arranged as follow. Chapter 2 is the theoretical framework to make sure that my research is built on a truly of scientific knowledge. It widely discuss about definition of TFP and TFPG, present theoretical insights as well as empirical works of previous scholars. Chapter 3 is the research methodology.
In this chapter, I will present methods to estimate TFP and TFPG, and I also set up models to find out TFPG’s determinants. Chapter 4 is the empirical analysis. The chapter first begin by present a global picture about performance of TFPG of countries in the world. Next, the regression results from cross section and panel data is presented.
Chapter 5 draws conclusion of this research and recommend policies in order to help law makers have better policies for Vietnam.