Does the Source of FDI Matter? The Case of Tax Havens

Abstract This paper estimates the benefits of FDI for firm performance, differentiating source countries between tax havens and non–tax havens. Using longitudinal data on more than 300,000 initially domestic firms in Ukraine between 1999 and 2013 and employing propensity score matching and panel data methods, this study finds that firms acquired by non–tax haven foreign investors experience substantial increases in employment, productivity, exports, and wages, but the gains are much lower and shorter-lived for firms receiving FDI from tax havens. These findings, based on econometric analysis of nearly the universe of Ukrainian businesses, are consistent with macroeconomic studies and anecdotal evidence that much of the tax-haven FDI in Ukraine actually represents domestic ownership channeled through offshore companies. This “round-trip FDI” results in negligible effects on firm performance and, at a macro level, it overstates the amount of genuine FDI flows into Ukraine.