This repository contains the replication dataset and Stata code for the paper "FDI-Threshold Activation of Net Trade's Growth Returns: Evidence from 115 Developing Economies," which applies Hansen's (1999) panel threshold regression to test whether foreign direct investment (FDI) intensity determines when a country's net trade position translates into economic growth.
The dataset covers a balanced panel of 115 developing economies — 47 in Sub-Saharan Africa, 38 in Asia, and 30 in Latin America — observed from 1970 to 2023 (6,210 country-year observations), drawn from World Bank classifications and World Governance Indicators sources.
The analysis identifies an FDI threshold of 16.1% of GDP in the pooled sample, above which net trade's growth contribution becomes positive and significant, with region-specific estimates for Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Contents:
Panel dataset (country-year observations, 1970–2023)
Stata do-files implementing the fixed-effects panel threshold regression (via xthreg), grid-search threshold estimation, and bootstrap threshold-existence tests (500 replications)
Instrumental-variable and regional robustness specifications
Variable construction and codebook
Keywords: foreign direct investment; net trade; panel threshold regression; economic growth; developing economies; Sub-Saharan Africa; Asia; Latin America
License: CC BY 4.0