economic research
WTO Investment related databases
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In order to facilitate research and to inform discussions on investment facilitation and more broadly on FDI and trade, the Economic Research and Statistics Division of the World Trade Organization (WTO) provides access to three investment related databases.
The first dataset provides information on current adoption of investment facilitation measures at country level in 142 WTO Members. More precisely, it presents the Investment Facilitation Index (IFI) developed by the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), previously the German Development Institute (DIE). The IFI is a composite index measuring the current adoption of investment facilitation measures at country level applying a multiple binary scoring scheme. Departing from an earlier version of the index, it has been conceptually revised and extended regarding its country coverage, with the support of the WTO. It now consists of 101 measures composing six regulatory dimensions and corresponds closely to the main policy areas and developments within current policy debates, including the newly negotiated Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement among the Members of the WTO. It provides the foundation for analyzing specific facilitation hurdles in investment frameworks of a given country. The fine-grained data of the IFI can be used for the modelling of economic benefits of the IFD Agreement and support the assessment of implementation gaps and prioritization of technical assistance and capacity development support. It can also be used by investors seeking information on a country’s investment regime.
The second dataset is a three-dimensional (bilateral, by sector) database of global FDI compatible with the GTAP Data Base, Version 11 for 2017. The database is constructed for research purposes and more specifically to be employed in counterfactual policy experiments using quantitative models. The data are available for 158 regions and 65 sectors, aligning with the region and sector definition of the GTAP Data Base. The database is constructed in four steps. First, we collect reported data on FDI from a range of sources (IMF, OECD, Eurostat, UNCTAD, and ITC). Second, we perform sector level gravity estimations at the three-dimensional level (sector-source-host) employing data from Eurostat and the ITC Investment Map generating a complete dataset at the three-dimensional level with extrapolation. Third, the extrapolated data are reconciled with higher dimensional reported FDI data collected from the OECD, UNCTAD and IMF employing quadratic optimisation. Fourth, to correct for geographical distortions in FDI statistics caused by phantom FDI due to the presence of tax havens we further adjust the reconciled database.
The har-file "fdi_158_65.har" contains headers with data not-correcting and correcting for phantom FDI, respectively FDI and FDIP. There are two excel-files not-correcting and correcting for phantom FDI, respectively "fdi_158_65.xlsx" and "fdi_158_65_Phan.xlsx".
Note: the source of the data is IMF, OECD, Eurostat, UNCTAD, and ITC as specified in the technical paper.
The third dataset is a three-dimensional (bilateral, by sector) database of foreign affiliate sales compatible with the GTAP Data Base, Version 11 for 2017. To construct the affiliate sales dataset we proceed in five steps. First, foreign affiliate sales data are collected from Eurostat, OECD, and national sources. Second, inward and outward data are reconciled. Third, three-dimensional affiliate sales data (by host country, home country and sector) are used to estimate a gravity equation (with Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood, PPML) to generate values for home-host-sector pair combinations for which reported data are missing. Fourth, the estimated affiliate sales data are reconciled with reported data at higher levels of aggregation, using quadratic optimization techniques. Fifth, the affiliate sales data are integrated in the GTAP database, adjusting the affiliate sales data for possible inconsistencies with gross output in the GTAP database. The database can be used in computable general equilibrium (CGE) models extended with affiliate sales.
The har-file "GTAPFAS.har" and csv-file "gtapfas.csv" contain the FAS data.