This paper empirically examines the key factors driving UK direct investment in the Spanish regions over the period 2000–2016 and, consequently, tries to unveil its main motivation. Applying a spatial Durbin panel model to capture spatial linkages, the results point to the existence of complementarity between the FDI received by a region and that of the remaining ones. This outcome, along with a positive and statistically significant spillover effect of market potential, reveals that complex‐vertical FDI motivation with agglomeration economies prevails among UK MNEs investing in Spain. Additionally, our findings unveil the role played by some other FDI drivers, such as wages and infrastructure. Furthermore, the paper is unique in decomposing the average direct and spillover effects by region and pairs of regions, so that remarkable differences can be identified. This breakdown has strong significance from a policy perspective since it can guide regional policy makers. In short, our findings point out to the fact that FDI policy should be jointly designed by those regions presenting strong bilateral spillover effects. Thus, greater cooperation among policy makers would be welcome.

中文翻译：

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英国对西班牙地区直接投资的驱动因素：空间德宾方法

本文实证研究了 2000 年至 2016 年期间推动英国对西班牙地区直接投资的关键因素，并因此试图揭示其主要动机。应用空间杜宾面板模型来捕捉空间联系，结果表明一个地区收到的 FDI 与其余地区收到的 FDI 之间存在互补性。这一结果，连同市场潜力的积极和统计上显着的溢出效应，表明在英国投资西班牙的跨国公司中，具有集聚经济的复杂垂直 FDI 动机盛行。此外，我们的调查结果揭示了其他一些 FDI 驱动因素所发挥的作用，例如工资和基础设施。此外，本文在分解区域和区域对的平均直接和溢出效应方面是独一无二的，以便识别显着差异。从政策角度来看，这种细分具有重要意义，因为它可以指导区域决策者。简而言之，我们的研究结果表明，FDI 政策应该由具有强大双边溢出效应的地区共同制定。因此，欢迎政策制定者之间加强合作。