The Impact of the FDI Inflow in the "Agriculture and Fishing" Sector of OECD Countries on CO2: Some Empirical Evidence

With reference to thirty OECD countries and a time-span of twenty-five years (from 1981 to 2005), we analyse the FDI dynamic in the primary sector and, more specifically, in the "agriculture and fishing" sector to observe whether and how its inflow generates a certain level of environmental impact, which can be proved to be statistically relevant. By referring to available data on pollutant agents such as Carbon dioxide (CO2) from fuel combustion, which is considered to be specifically linked to those activities typically run in the considered sector, and FDI inflow per country and per activity sector, we use the econometric technique of panel data analysis. Among the main results of the analysis, we find that the use of CO2 from fuel combustion in the agricultural sector does not generate statistically significant results with regard to the main relationship under investigation (that between FDI inflow in the "agriculture and fishing" sector and the considered pollutant), although some other meaningful and interesting evidences are achieved and discussed.