The comparative influence of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows on export performance between landlocked and coastal African countries

The comparative influence of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows on export performance between landlocked and coastal African countries | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article The comparative influence of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows on export performance between landlocked and coastal African countries Ashenafi Mola (Mr), PhD candidate in Development economics, Semeneh Bessie (PhD), and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9107387/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study investigates the differential influence of foreign direct investment on export performance in landlocked and coastal African economies during 1996 to 2023. By addressing, structural differences across geographical based panels, an issue that received limited attention in existing studies, contributes to foreign direct investment export linkage literature. The study employed Kao and Pedroni panel cointegration and Granger causality tests with Pooled Mean Group estimator. Both cointegration tests revealed existence of long-run equilibrium relationship among the variables. The finding revealed FDI positively affect export in coastal countries, while its effect in landlocked countries is insignificant, suggesting that coastal countries are converting FDI inflows into export expansion through their advantage of port access and integration into international value chains. While, trade openness has positive effect on export in both short and long term regardless of geographic difference. Although, exchange rate depreciation enhances export in the long-run for both panels its short run effect is negative. Infrastructure development boosts export in both long and short run in coastal countries but is has a negative effect for landlocked counterpart in the long run, which is attributed to quality and institutional performance. Political stability has positive short and long run impact on export expansion, although its impact in landlocked country is negligible. the study highlights, geography significantly conditions the export enhancing effect of FDI. Policy makers shall emphasize targeted trade facilitation reforms and infrastructural investment in landlocked economies, while coastal counterpart shall prioritize improving international value chains, infrastructure development, port efficiency and political stability to sustain export competitiveness. Development Economics Export performance Foreign direct investment coastal and landlocked Africa Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9107387","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":605240527,"identity":"4c7d32d5-b34f-4a5f-8c4c-529502f2ebd9","order_by":0,"name":"Ashenafi Mola (Mr), PhD candidate in Development economics","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABBklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACHhAhBySZGxgkKmyAHMbGA0RoMQaSjA0MFmfSQFoaiNICVslQ2XIYLIZXC3//2YOPC2oMZHTbGxs/3Gw4b7e2/TDQlhqbaFxaJG7kJRvPOGbAY3bmYLPkzB23k7edSQRqOZaW24BLzw0eM2ketj88ZjcSG6Qlz9xONjsA1MLYcBinFvnzZ8x/8/wzAGlp/v237Vyy2fmH+LUYHMgxY+ZtA2tpk5BsO2AHsg6vFsMbOcbSvH1gv7RZSJxJTjC7AbQlAY9f5M6fMfzM883A3ux48+EbEhV29mbn0x8++FBjg9v76CARrDKBWOUgYE+K4lEwCkbBKBgZAADUkmZS3c+fFwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Ethiopian civil Service University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"PhD","middleName":"candidate in Development eco Ashenafi Mola","lastName":"(Mr)","suffix":"PhD"},{"id":605240528,"identity":"90602e00-6596-48a3-960b-87e6f8658e37","order_by":1,"name":"Semeneh Bessie (PhD)","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Ethiopian civil Service University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Semeneh","middleName":"","lastName":"Bessie","suffix":"PhD"},{"id":605240529,"identity":"e9517743-bc26-476b-af4f-af7cdfba375b","order_by":2,"name":"Tesfaye Chofana (PhD)","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Ethiopian civil Service University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tesfaye","middleName":"","lastName":"Chofana","suffix":"PhD"}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-12 17:38:31","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9107387/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9107387/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104699351,"identity":"2f7c8624-0602-497e-87ff-122319ca66be","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-16 08:13:26","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":554622,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"comparativeinfluenceofforeigndirectinvestmentFDIinflowsonexportperformancebetweenlandlockedandcoastalAfricancountries..pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9107387/v1_covered_6f316af8-5d14-4f67-830b-74c94025180f.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe comparative influence of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows on export performance between landlocked and coastal African countries\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"Ethiopian Civil Service University","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Export performance, Foreign direct investment, coastal and landlocked Africa","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9107387/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9107387/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis study investigates the differential influence of foreign direct investment on export performance in landlocked and coastal African economies during 1996 to 2023. 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