The Impact of Foreign Direct Investments and the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Economic Growth in Central and Eastern European Countries

Abstract

The aim of the article is to analyse the impact of foreign direct investments on GDP growth and the link between the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic growth of Central and Eastern European countries. The study has shown us that there is a positive impact between foreign direct investment inflows and GDP growth, and that variables such as exports, labour productivity and unemployment rate also positively influence the development of the countries under analysis. We used a panel regression model with fixed effects, which showed us the correlation between FDI inflows and GDP growth, from which we can see that the decreases in FDI caused by the pandemic, led to a decrease in the GDP growth rate and thus in the economic development of the Central and Eastern European countries.

Keywords

• fdi
• covid-19
• cee economies
• gdp