Capital mobility in Latin American and Caribbean countries: new evidence from dynamic common correlated effects panel data modeling

Abstract

This study investigates the degree of capital mobility in a panel of 16 Latin American and 4 Caribbean countries during 1960 to 2017 against the backdrop of the Feldstein-Horioka hypothesis by applying recent panel data techniques. This is the first study on capital mobility in Latin American and Caribbean countries to employ the recently developed panel data procedure of the dynamic common correlated effects modeling technique of Chudik and Pesaran (J Econ 188:393–420, 2015) and the error-correction testing of Gengenbach, Urbain, and Westerlund (Panel error correction testing with global stochastic trends, 2008, J Appl Econ 31:982–1004, 2016). These approaches address the serious panel data econometric issues of cross-section dependence, slope heterogeneity, nonstationarity, and endogeneity in a multifactor error-structure framework. The empirical findings of this study reveal a low average (mean) savings–retention coefficient for the panel as a whole and for most individual countries, as well as indicating a cointegration relationship between saving and investment ratios. The results indicate that there is a relatively high degree of capital mobility in the Latin American and Caribbean countries in the short run, while the long-run solvency condition is maintained, which is due to reduced frictions in goods and services markets causing increase competition. Increased capital mobility in these countries can promote economic growth and hasten the process of globalization by creating a conducive economic environment for FDI in these countries.