The relationships between trade and foreign investment (FDI) are at the core of globalisation. Analytical work has recently been developed by OECD in order to explore the nature of these links in quantitative terms. This report combines the previous more technical work developed over the last three years.

This empirical work revealed the complexity of these links but, at the same time, showed the main and positive influence of foreign direct investment on international trade particularly after the mid– 1980s. Empirical results show that foreign direct investment abroad stimulates the growth of exports from countries of origin and consequently this investment is complementary to trade ...