FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN NORTH KOREA AND THE EFFECT OF SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES: LEARNING FROM TRANSITION ECONOMIES

Abstract

This study analyzes critical factors that foreign investors would consider before investing in North Korea by empirically analyzing key FDI determinants in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (i.e., transition economies) and juxtaposing these results against North Korea’s main investment hurdles and pull factors in order to suggest a way forward. For the empirical study, a fixed effect model is employed based on the panel data of all the transition economies through their entire transition periods. The analysis suggests that the special economic zones in the Visegrad countries could provide a relevant benchmark for North Korea.