FDI and productivity gains in developing countries: How to make sense of an inconclusive debate?

Policymakers seeFDI as amajor source for potential productivity gains, but the academic debateon its impact on developing countries is full of contradictions. This short noteinvestigates the impact of FDI on productivity using a meta-analysis of 74 of primary empirical studies published over 1983 –2013and dealing with 31 developing countries. We find a positive and economically important productivity spilloverfrom FDI.