Date of Graduation

Fall 12-23-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in International and Development Economics (MSIDEC)

College/School

College of Arts and Sciences

Department/Program

Economics

First Advisor

Professor Bruce Wydick

Abstract

Abstract: Since the pioneering work of John H. Dunning on the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the economic growth of the United Kingdom, many experts have debated the growth effect of FDI in an economy. This study investigated the impact of FDI on Colombia’s economic growth from 1990 to 2019. Moreover, it explored whether the Colombian economy has benefited from positive spillover from FDIs. Additionally, the paper examined how the stock level of human capital conditioned the effect of FDI on GDP per capita growth. To this end, the analysis separated tertiary enrollments from the human capital index, and mediation analysis tests of human capital and tertiary enrollments were performed on FDI and GDP per capita. The results show that only 2% of FDIs were mediated through human capital, whereas the mediation effect rose to 25% when using the tertiary enrollments.

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