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Recognizing the importance of an outward-oriented policy approach, countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines have liberalized their regulation on foreign direst investment by introducing various guarantees and incentives. The Philippines, however, lagged behind its neighbors. This study identifies the factors that may explain why the Philippines has failed to capture its share of FDIs. Analysis indicates that our trade policy being strongly for import substitution has contributed to the rather unimpressive direct investments. The high level of protection in the manufacturing industry though inappropriate has encouraged the setting-up of local production that resulted to resource misallocation and loss of consumer welfare. In fact, FDI flows in the country have been concentrated in the following highly protected industries: chemicals, processed food, transport equipment, machinery and appliances, textiles and garments, basic metal products and petroleum and coal. Regression results support a positive relationship between FDI and the level of protection, stock of public investment real gross domestic product and real effective exchange rate.

Citations

This publication has been cited time(s).

Revilla, Ma. Laarni D, 2016 "Cross-country econometric study on the impact of fiscal incentives on Foreign Direct Investment" , Philippine Institute for Development Studies
Austria, Myrna S, 1998 "The emerging Philippine investment environment" , Philippine Institute for Development Studies
Medalla, Erlinda M. and Myrna Austria, 1996 "A study on the trade and investment policies of developing countries: The case of the Philippines" , Philippine Institute for Development Studies
Chalk,r Nigel A, 2001 "Tax incentives in the Philippines: A regional perspective" , International Monetary Fund
Austria, Myrna S, 1998 "The emerging Philippine investment environment" , Philippine Institute for Development Studies
Revilla, Ma. Laarni D, 2016 "Cross-country econometric study on the impact of fiscal incentives on FDI" , eSocialSciences

Contributor

Philippine Institute for Development Studies

Authors

Aldaba, Rafaelita M.

Keywords

Foreign direct investment (FDI); trade liberalization; trade reforms; trade sector; manufacturing sector; competitiveness; export commodities; trade policies

Foreign Direct Investment in the Philippines: A Reassessment

Citations