Agglomeration economies and the location of foreign direct investment: empirical evidence from Romania

Abstract

We exploit the large inflow of FDI into Romania, after the revolution in 1989, to study the determinants of FDI location in transition economies. Using a conditional logit setup and choice-specific fixed effects, we find that external economies from service agglomeration are the main determinant of FDI-location. An increase in service employment density by 10 percent makes the average Romanian county 11.9 percent more likely to attract a foreign investor. Industry specific foreign and domestic agglomeration economies and labor conflicts also impact FDI-location. A comparison with findings of other studies suggests that service agglomeration economies may be geographically quite localized.