This study examines the determinants of outward foreign direct investment (FDI) from Latin American countries and compares it with their OECD counterparts. Our analysis is based on a sample of 45 countries, 13 from Latin America and 32 from the OECD, over the period 2001–2012. We find that the outward FDI from Latin America is more likely to be located in geographically proximate countries and in countries with similar culture and language than that from their OECD counterparts. We also show that Latin American outward FDI is less likely to be resource seeking. This presumably reflects the rich natural resource endowments and agricultural potential in major Latin American countries. Further, outward FDI from Latin America is more likely to be concentrated in countries with a similar corruption environment than that from their OECD counterparts. This might indicate a broadly similar nature of corruption across Latin America due to shared cultural, political and economic legacies.

本研究考察了拉丁美洲国家对外直接投资 (FDI) 的决定因素，并将其与经合组织的同行进行了比较。我们的分析基于 2001-2012 年间 45 个国家的样本，其中 13 个来自拉丁美洲，32 个来自经合组织。我们发现，与经合组织的外国直接投资相比，来自拉丁美洲的外向 FDI 更有可能位于地理上邻近的国家以及文化和语言相似的国家。我们还表明，拉丁美洲对外直接投资不太可能是寻求资源。这大概反映了拉丁美洲主要国家丰富的自然资源禀赋和农业潜力。此外，与经合组织的外国直接投资相比，拉丁美洲的对外直接投资更有可能集中在腐败环境相似的国家。