A Study of Foreign Direct Investment Effects on Economic Growth in Oil Exporting Countries

Capital is considered to be the engine of economic growth and development. Developing countries, however, are short of this pivotal factor of economic well beings. Until not too long ago these countries used to resort to borrowings from abroad to furnish this shortage. But in recent years, the developing countries have faced mounting foreign debts on one hand, and their inability to payoff these debts on the other hand. They are gradually being attracted to foreign investments. In this article, the impact of FDI on economic growth has been studied. The results indicate that FDI has a positive impact on the economic growth of the five countries under study (Indonesia, Malaysia, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Iran). Moreover, the degree of this impact is influenced by the quality of the human capital of each country. This fact holds not only for FDI but also for domestic investments as well.