Immigrant links, diasporas and FDI. Evidence from five European countries

This paper studies the effects of migration on the bilateral FDI of five European countries, Germany, Italy, France, UK and Spain. It is based on five datasets with time spans going from 1990 to 2006. It analyses the impacts of skilled and less-skilled immigrants, of skilled networks from developed and developing countries and, for Italy and Spain, of emigrants. Results are that skilled immigrants, originating from both developed and developing countries, have positive and robust effects on the bilateral FDI of the UK, Germany and France. The FDI of Italy and Spain are influenced by their respective diasporas