Faculty of Business and Communication, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Kangar 01000, Malaysia.
Center for Sustainable and Inclusive Development Studies (SID), Faculty of Economic and Management, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Malaysia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 17;20(3):1720. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20031720.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) can boost economic growth and provide job opportunities. FDI inflows in ASEAN+3 countries have dropped markedly, which may affect economic development in the region. Many previous studies have investigated a multitude of factors that can influence FDI, such as market size, inflation, trade openness, corruption, and inflation. Previous studies did not, however, consider environmental degradation as a potential factor. Besides corruption and inflation, imposing stringent environmental regulations, such as carbon pricing and taxes to reduce environmental degradation, might deter foreign investors from the country. This is due to heightened costs for foreign investors, which may cause FDI inflows to drop. To shed some light on the reality of this situation, this study examines whether environmental degradation can significantly affect foreign direct investment in the region. This study includes environmental degradation as a potential factor and employs the panel ARDL approach to analyse data from 1995 to 2019. Results show that environmental degradation, infrastructure, and corruption can affect the inflow of FDI in the long run. In the short run, inflation can affect FDI. The findings of this study can be utilized by policymakers in formulating the right policies to attract more investors. An increase in infrastructure facilities should be considered to attract more foreign investment. It is also vital for governments to reduce corruption and inflation to attract more FDI inflows. Environmental incentives should also be introduced to ensure that attempts to reduce environmental degradation do not affect FDI inflows.
外国直接投资（FDI）可以促进经济增长并提供就业机会。东盟+3 国家的外国直接投资流入量显著下降，这可能会影响该地区的经济发展。许多之前的研究已经调查了许多可以影响 FDI 的因素，例如市场规模、通货膨胀、贸易开放度、腐败和通货膨胀。然而，之前的研究没有考虑环境恶化作为一个潜在因素。除了腐败和通货膨胀，实施严格的环境法规，如碳定价和税收以减少环境恶化，可能会阻止外国投资者进入该国。这是因为外国投资者的成本增加，可能导致外国直接投资流入减少。为了阐明这种情况的现实，本研究检验了环境恶化是否可以显著影响该地区的外国直接投资。本研究将环境恶化作为一个潜在因素，并采用面板 ARDL 方法分析了 1995 年至 2019 年的数据。结果表明，环境恶化、基础设施和腐败会长期影响 FDI 的流入。在短期内，通货膨胀会影响 FDI。本研究的结果可以为政策制定者制定吸引更多投资者的正确政策提供参考。增加基础设施应被视为吸引更多外国投资的手段。政府还必须降低腐败和通货膨胀，以吸引更多的外国投资流入。还应引入环境激励措施，以确保减少环境恶化的努力不会影响外国直接投资流入。
