Does governance and energy spur FDI inflows in Malaysia?

Numerous studies have examined FDI determinants in Malaysia but the influence of governance quality and energy security remained insufficiently explored. Therefore, this study empirically evaluates the impact of governance quality and energy security, alongside conventional economic variables, on FDI inflows in Malaysia. Using time series data from 1970 to 2022 and employing Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (D-OLS) and Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FM-OLS) models, this study explored that governance quality and energy infrastructure significantly promotes FDI inflow in Malaysia. The impact of quality of governance, with a coefficient of 1.612 (FM-OLS, p < 0.01) and energy (EUS), with a coefficient of 2.930 (FM-OLS, p < 0.01) highlight their importance in attracting FDI in Malaysia. On the other hand, the findings shows financial development a negative affect FDI inflows in Malaysia, with a coefficient of -1.019 (FM-OLS, p < 0.01). These findings underscore the importance of governance and energy security in attracting foreign investment, suggesting that Malaysia should prioritize improvements in governance quality and energy capacity to boost FDI inflows.