Title: Foreign direct investment and oil/non-oil economic growth in GCC countries

Authors: Imed Medhioub

Addresses: Department of Finance and Investment, College of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), P.O. Box 5701, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract: This study is aimed at explaining the impact of oil resources on foreign direct investment inflows (FDI, hereafter) for GCC countries in several ways. First, by using panel data time series technique based on data covering the period (1980-2013), we found that only oil GDP and oil degree of openness have a significant positive impact on attracting FDI. Second, by considering sectoral analysis for four GCC countries (Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates), we conclude that sectoral FDI has a positive impact on sectoral GDP while this impact is negative for the case of Oman. This implies that FDI supports the program of economic diversification in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE, hereafter).

Keywords: foreign direct investment; FDI; economic growth; oil industry; non-oil industry; degree of openness; panel data; cointegration; GCC countries; Gulf Cooperation Council; oil resources; Oman; Qatar; Saudi Arabia; UAE; United Arab Emirates.

DOI: 10.1504/MEJM.2016.081085

Middle East Journal of Management, 2016 Vol.3 No.4, pp.294 - 308

Received: 11 Aug 2016
Accepted: 13 Aug 2016

Published online: 20 Dec 2016 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article