Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of country- and firm-specific factors on foreign investment in Pakistan.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses time-series data for country-level determinants and uses panel data for 100 listed non-financial companies selected based on market capitalisation from 2005 to 2015.

Findings

Findings suggest that the stock market returns and liquidity of the country significantly positively influence the foreign portfolio investment (FPI) in Pakistan. Whereas, economic growth surprisingly is negatively related to foreign portfolio investment. In addition, findings reveal that firm size, financial leverage, dividend yield and global depositary receipts (GDR) have a positive impact on the total foreign investment at firm level. Further, foreign institutional investors prefer to invest in those firms that are large, pay high dividends and issue GDR. Furthermore, findings suggest that foreign direct investors tend to invest in firms that are financially leveraged and have low capital gain yield.

Practical implications

At the country level, this study recommends that stock market performance, economic growth and foreign reserves of the country should be maintained and improved to attract FPI. At the firm level, this study recommends issuance of global depositary receipts and high dividend payouts for those firms that are interested in institutional investment in Pakistan.

Originality/value

To the best of authors' knowledge, this study is the first that examines the effect of firm-level factors along with country-level factors on foreign investment in Pakistan.

中文翻译：

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巴基斯坦外商投资的决定因素

目的

本研究的目的是检验国家和公司特定因素对巴基斯坦外国投资的影响。

设计/方法/方法

本研究使用时间序列数据作为国家层面的决定因素，并使用面板数据选择基于 2005 年至 2015 年市值的 100 家上市非金融公司。

发现

调查结果表明，该国的股票市场回报和流动性对巴基斯坦的外国证券投资（FPI）产生了显着的积极影响。然而，令人惊讶的是，经济增长与外国证券投资呈负相关。此外，调查结果表明，公司规模、财务杠杆、股息收益率和全球存托凭证 (GDR) 对公司层面的外国投资总额有积极影响。此外，外国机构投资者更倾向于投资那些规模大、股息高、发行 GDR 的公司。此外，调查结果表明，外国直接投资者倾向于投资具有财务杠杆且资本收益收益率低的公司。

实际影响

在国家层面，本研究建议保持和改善国家的股票市场表现、经济增长和外汇储备，以吸引 FPI。在公司层面，本研究建议对那些对巴基斯坦机构投资感兴趣的公司发行全球存托凭证和高股息支付。

原创性/价值

据作者所知，这项研究是第一个检验公司层面因素以及国家层面因素对巴基斯坦外国投资的影响的研究。