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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold: to explore the interrelationships between FDI with growth and sustainability dimension; and to empirically analyze the four dimensions, namely, environmental, economic, social and governance of sustainable FDI for South Asia and West Asia. Design/methodology/approach: The data utilized in the paper is sourced from the World Development Indicators and the Worldwide Governance Indicators, covering South and West Asian region over the period 2011–2017. The paper employed both static and dynamic panel (two-step difference generalized methods of moments) estimation methods. Findings: The results established a significant and robust relationship of past year FDI inflows with the current year's value of FDI inflows for both the regions. Further, some variances in the relationships such as control of corruption, long-run carbon emissions, research and development, number of trademark applications as per the contextual factors have been detected. Research limitations/implications: The conclusions related to gender and governance found in this paper will be of interest to both researchers and policy makers for substantially reorienting the sustainability attributes to the foreign investment. Originality/value: The authors' main contributions are: to encapsulate the conceptual framework into an empirical model by combining all the four dimensions, namely, environmental, economic, social and governance; to have analyzed the possible differences and similarities in the study based on South and West Asia; to have explored the relationship between gender and FDI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to assess the relationships between foreign direct investment (FDI) and domestic entrepreneurship (DE) with the moderating role of formal institutions (FI) and informal institutions (II) and information communication technology (ICT) capacities in Asia. Design/methodology/approach: This study is based on unbalanced panel data of 17 Asian countries from 2006 to 2018 at different stages of development, using the three-stage least squares estimation method. Findings: The research findings indicate that FDI directly affects the establishment of domestic formal and informal entrepreneurship. In addition, FDI firms via the buffer mechanism of FI and II and ICT development for DE. Through its adjustment to the quality of institutions and ICT infrastructure, economic development determines the direction of FDI's impact on DE. Originality/value: The study findings grant empirical evidence and theoretical contributions to the relationship between FDI and domestic entrepreneurial development through the buffering mechanism of FI and II and the role of ICT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to test the pollution haven hypothesis (PHH) in developing Asian countries by examining whether lax environmental laws are a determinant of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into these countries, which are characterised by being the largest FDI recipients among developing countries and also by being among the most highly polluted and the highest carbon dioxide (CO2) emitters worldwide.Design/methodology/approach Panel data for the main determinants of FDI inflows including a carbon dioxide emissions and an agglomeration variable are collected for all developing Asian countries for the 1996-2016 period and a fixed effects model with robust standard errors is used.Findings Results show that lax environmental laws are a significant determinant of FDI inflows for the selected Asian countries as a whole. A closer look shows that this result cannot be generalised for the whole region, but applies particularly to three countries China, Hong Kong and the Philippines. PHH is thus only partially supported.Originality/value FDI is a main engine of growth for developing countries. However, it might adversely affect them, specifically in terms of environmental deterioration in the absence of stringent and well-enforced environmental policies. Some developing countries might even deliberately relax their environmental policies to attain comparative advantage especially in polluting industries and thus attract FDI. This leads to serious repercussions and might eventually limit growth, where augmenting it was the intention in the first place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) and its relationship with exports of home country is an important aspect of internationalization having implications for both policymakers and multinational enterprises (MNEs). This paper aims to examine this relationship by using panel data for ten major emerging countries from Asia over the period 1991-2012.Design/methodology/approach The authors use panel vector auto regression, panel cointegration and causality tests in this study.Findings The authors find evidence of long-run causality from exports to OFDI. Further, exports and OFDI are found to be substitutes. There is no long-run causality from OFDI to exports, implying that MNEs are not “connecting” with home country firms through backward and forward linkages in the production process.Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to deal with the relationship of OFDI with exports of the home country, for a group of developing/emerging countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — The fact that previous studies regarding the effects of social violence on foreign direct investment (FDI) flows come to contradictory conclusions motivates this paper. Therefore, it seeks to investigate the social violence-FDI relationship in an ethnically heterogeneous and resource-rich country, Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach — The theoretical framework of the paper examines the social violence-FDI relationship and identifies the circumstances under which social violence in the host country adversely affects FDI inflows. The empirical analysis uses a unique dataset that consists of FDI flows and different types of social violence in 26 provinces of Indonesia during the period 1992-2001. A fixed-effects regression is applied to estimate the effects of social violence on FDI flows in Indonesian provinces. Findings — The results indicate that only certain types of social violence such as ethnic and industrial relations violence are detrimental to FDI. Multinational firms seem to differentiate among the several types of social violence and respond only to those that may affect their expected future profits. Practical implications — The immediate policy implication of this result implies that developing countries having the desire to attract FDI flows should be aware of the fact that multinational firms seem to differentiate among the several types of social violence and respond only to those that may affect their expected future profits. Originality/value — This paper contributes to the literature in two ways. First, the dataset employed in the empirical analysis is unique in that it contains different types of social violence and associated damage in a country. Second and because of the first point, the empirical findings provide an explanation of the conflicting results reported in the literature regarding the social violence-FDI relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to identify key barriers to internationalisation in emerging markets (EMs) for professional service firms (PSFs) from developed markets and to explain how PSFs use social networks to participate within EMs of Asia and overcome these barriers. The paper aims to provide a framework of this process. Design/methodology/approach - A case-based research design is used to explore key professional service industries (legal, media consulting and financial), providing three case studies, in a developed market (Australia) that are expanding rapidly into [Ms (Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam) of Asia. Findings - The elements of orientating, positioning and timing were identified as critical in the context of foreign entry, with the network perspective providing a useful theoretical explanation of this process and underpinning the conceptual framework. Key barriers to internationalisation in EMs for PSFs from developed markets are identified: face-to-face communication, language, cultural, work practices and government regulations. How PSFs use social networks to participate within EMs of Asia to overcome these barriers reveal that social network elements are critical to FME specifically into EMs: orientation, positioning and time. Research limitations/implications - While the conceptual framework of key barriers and how PSF overcame them is theoretically supported by the findings, the framework could be tested more appropriately through an extended number of cases prior to a survey to provide generalizability. Practical implications - Social networks were used by managers of PSFs to secure market knowledge and to act as a basis for strategic decision making, with foreign network actors a key influence in the foreign market entry process. Originality/value - The paper provides a framework for identifying key barriers to internationalisation in EMs for PSFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) by focusing on institutional and economic factors among South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as Central Asian countries over the period 2002-2014.Design/methodology/approach The generalized method of moments technique is employed for analyzing the impact of institutional quality on FDI inflow by controlling for the effect of market size, domestic investment and labor force.Findings The authors found large variations in terms of the impact of institutional and economic variables in regards to FDI in the SAARC, Central Asian and ASEAN regions. The results reveal that real GDP, domestic investment and economic freedom index have a positive and significant effect on FDI inflows in the SAARC region, while governance index and labor force have a negative impact on FDI inflows. In Central Asia, the real GDP, domestic investment and governance index are positively associated with FDI inflows, whereas the effect of economic freedom index on FDI is negative as well as insignificant. Apart from the GDP, other variables such as labor force, domestic investment, governance and economic freedom indices influence FDI positively in the ASEAN region. It is worth mentioning here that domestic investment produces positive effect on FDI inflows in all the regions. On the whole, the authors may conclude that institutional factors play an important role in attracting FDI inflows in the ASEAN region as compared to Central Asian and SAARC regions.Originality/value A limited research work is available that could help in identifying the role of institutional and economic factors simultaneously in attracting FDI in the SAARC, Central Asian and ASEAN regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The study attempts to identify the linkages in the term structure of illiquidity and the impact of global and domestic factors on sovereign bonds in emerging Asia. The objective of the study ensues on defining the direction of illiquidity spillover across bonds of varying tenors. Design/methodology/approach: This study explores the joint dynamics of contemporary liquidity risk premia and its time-varying effect on the term structure spectrum using the Diebold and Yilmaz (2012) spillover framework. Findings: A substantial relationship was found to exist between the liquidity of bonds with closer terms to maturity. The macroeconomic environment primarily impacts the liquidity of 10-year bonds, and they spiral down to the subsequent bond liquidity, exhibiting a rippling effect. The authors further show that the direction of liquidity shock transmission is from long- to medium- and thence to short-term bonds. Among the global factors, foreign investments and S & P 500 VIX significantly affect the liquidity of 10-year bonds. Research limitations/implications: The study has several implications for academicians, policymakers and domestic and global investment professionals. The drivers of liquidity risk and the transmission across the term structure help investors in designing efficient portfolio diversification strategies. The results are relevant for cross-border investors in the valuation of emerging Asian sovereign bonds while deciding on asset allocations and hedging strategies. The monetary regulators strive on a continuous basis to improve the liquidity in sovereign bond markets in order to ensure efficient funding of development activities. This study finds that short-term bonds are more liquid than long-term bonds. Their auction framework with higher series of short-term bond issues helps to provide the required liquidity in the markets. Practical implications: The term structure of illiquidity is upward sloping, inferring a higher underlying liquidity risk of long-term bonds compared to short-term bonds. This finding suggests that a higher representation of short-term bonds in the auction framework helps to enhance the overall market liquidity. Originality/value: This study offers insights into the debate on the shape of the term structure of illiquidity and the point of origination of liquidity shocks. Further, the direction of spillover across a wide spectrum of bonds is also demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which examines the importance and performance of Chinese commercial property in the property portfolio of Asia. The study uses risk-adjusted performance analysis to determine the added value of the commercial property of China in a pan-Asia portfolio and its diversification benefits as well. Results show that Chinese commercial property has a significant performance and diversification benefits based on pan-Asia property fund context. Moreover, it says that international property investors have emphasized the benefits of pan-Asia property investment strategy.

Purpose Competitiveness is vital to attracting FDI into a country, which has led us to investigate the determinants of FDI in the top 15 most competitive countries in the Asia Pacific region.Design/methodology/approach We have analysed political stability alongside other commonly studied determinants of FDI. We have employed a panel data fixed-effect model on a 14-year sample data (2000-2013) involving the top 15 most competitive Asia Pacific countries. The Global Competitiveness Index was taken as the yardstick to identify these countries. We have used fixed effect, GMM-system, and Panel ARDL tests for robust results.Findings The GDP, trade openness and political stability positively influenced FDI inflows while inflation rate negatively impacted FDI inflows in the selected countries. Political stability was the most influential variable in the presence of other indicators. GDP, openness, and political stability exhibit significant long-run relationship with FDI inflows.Research limitations/implications To increase FDI flows, regulators should focus on building the image of the country, and possibly the region, by ensuring stable economic and political environment, maintaining macroeconomic stability through bi- and multi-lateral arrangements with neighbouring countries.Originality/value Regional relationships with neighbouring countries can be considered as the building blocks for attracting FDIs. These relationships can be strengthened based on liberal trade policies, openness in capital control, and cooperation in terms of political actions. One such recent issue in regional political cooperation include actions to reduce terrorism and corruption that help boost the confidence of the investors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the value-added performance and portfolio diversification benefits of Asian real estate companies in Asian mixed-asset portfolios and international real estate securities portfolios through 1996-2005. The study compares the risk-return performance and assesses the correlation profiles of real estate, bonds, and common stocks in 13 Asian as well as Great Britain, and U.S. real estate securities markets. It adds that value-add benefits in relation to risk, terminal wealth, and portfolio return as well as the benefits derived from international diversification were assessed. Result shows little evidence of the influence of diversification benefits and risk-adjusted performance on Asian real estate companies' positive portfolio on international investors.

Predicts the political and social conditions in Asia and their implications to foreign investments. Necessity for political risk insurance; Reliability of the forecasting capacity of The Economist and the Business Environmental Risk Models (BERI) models; Discussion of variables representing conditions indicating potential troubles for foreign investors.