Using monthly inward foreign direct investment (FDI) data for the period from January 2020 to September 2021, our study aims to investigate how the COVID-19 burden (cases and deaths) and policy responses of Vietnam and 40 investment partners affected Vietnam’s FDI attraction. Estimates for the baseline models as well as for different types of income levels show that Vietnam’s COVID-19 burden negatively affects its inward FDI, while no evidence reveals the effect of investment partners’ COVID-19 burden. We find that Vietnam’s COVID-19 cases negatively affect its inward FDI from the European region, while no evidence reveals an effect from the Asian region. When including policy responses in the estimation, we find a disadvantageous impact of investment partners’ COVID-19 cases and deaths as well as Vietnam’s COVID-19 deaths on Vietnam’s inward FDI. In general, the effects of COVID-19 cases are significantly lower than those of COVID-19 deaths. Estimates show that stringent measures in Vietnam and investment partners negatively affect FDI flows into Vietnam, while containment and health measures have a positive effect. The study suggests that efforts should focus on reducing the number of COVID-19 deaths rather than the number of COVID-19 cases, minimizing the application of stringency measures by Vietnam and investment partners, applying health methods, and expanding trade agreements networks.

我们的研究使用 2020 年 1 月至 2021 年 9 月期间的每月外国直接投资 (FDI) 数据，旨在调查越南和 40 个投资伙伴的 COVID-19 负担（病例和死亡人数）和政策反应如何影响越南的外国直接投资吸引力。对基线模型以及不同类型收入水平的估计表明，越南的 COVID-19 负担对其流入的外国直接投资产生负面影响，而没有证据表明投资伙伴的 COVID-19 负担的影响。我们发现越南的 COVID-19 病例对其来自欧洲地区的 FDI 流入产生了负面影响，而没有证据表明来自亚洲地区的影响。当在估计中包括政策反应时，我们发现投资伙伴的 COVID-19 病例和死亡以及越南的 COVID-19 死亡对越南的流入外国直接投资产生不利影响。一般来说，COVID-19 病例的影响明显低于 COVID-19 死亡病例的影响。估计表明，越南和投资伙伴的严格措施对流入越南的外国直接投资产生负面影响，而遏制和卫生措施则产生积极影响。该研究表明，努力应侧重于减少 COVID-19 死亡人数而不是 COVID-19 病例数，尽量减少越南和投资伙伴采取的严格措施，应用卫生方法，并扩大贸易协定网络。