The impact of COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine War on foreign direct investment: A panel quantile regression analysis

This paper examines the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russo-Ukrainian war on FDI in central and eastern European countries (CEECs) from 2020Q1 to 2022Q2. Using the panel quantile regression, it finds that COVID-19 and the conflict had a detrimental impact on the largest FDI recipient countries but not on those in the lower quantiles. Therefore, CEECs should encourage FDI inflows from several sources to reduce vulnerability to shocks and the consequences they bring, diversify investments, and conduct a thorough analysis to identify sectors most affected, and tailor policies to address the sustainable inflow of FDI from those sectors.