This paper investigates the empirical relationship between selected ease-of-doing-business indicators and foreign direct investment in sub-Saharan Africa. Using a panel of 45 sub-Saharan African countries covering the period 2004–2018 and the system generalized method of moments estimation technique, the paper reveals that ease-of-doing-business indicators play a significant role in attracting foreign direct investment to the sub-region. Specifically, a percentage point improvement in the ease of starting a business in sub-Saharan Africa results in a 0.79 percentage point increase in foreign direct investment. Moreover, a percentage point improvement in tax administration, coupled with the existence of an optimal tax rate, increases foreign direct investment inflows by 0.17 percentage point. This paper contributes to the empirical literature by proposing a new model that incorporates the quantitative effects of ease-of-doing-business indicators on foreign direct investment. These findings underscore the need for policymakers to operationalize business friendly policies that permit and promote private sector development in order to attract multinational corporations.

中文翻译：

---

经商便利度和外国直接投资：撒哈拉以南非洲地区的案例

本文研究了选定的营商便利度指标与撒哈拉以南非洲地区的外国直接投资之间的实证关系。使用涵盖 2004 年至 2018 年期间的 45 个撒哈拉以南非洲国家的面板和系统广义矩估计技术，该论文揭示了营商便利度指标在吸引外国直接投资方面发挥了重要作用。 -地区。具体而言，撒哈拉以南非洲地区的创业便利度提高一个百分点，外国直接投资就会增加 0.79 个百分点。此外，税收管理改善一个百分点，加上最优税率的存在，使外国直接投资流入增加了 0.17 个百分点。本文提出了一个新模型，该模型包含了营商环境指标对外国直接投资的定量影响，从而为实证文献做出了贡献。这些调查结果强调政策制定者需要实施商业友好政策，允许和促进私营部门的发展，以吸引跨国公司。