Higher education, gender, and foreign direct investment: Evidence from OECD countries

The objective of this study was to explore and empirically investigate the relationship between the labour force across educational levels and foreign direct investment (FDI), and to facilitate comparisons of education statistics and indicators across countries based on uniform and internationally agreed definitions. The analysis focuses on OECD countries. The empirical findings suggest that an educated labour force positively affects inward FDI. However, different educational levels do not have the same level of significance; tertiary education appears to have the greatest influence. As far as gender is concerned, the level of female participation in the workforce seems to be crucial in attracting FDI, and governments should therefore adopt policies to promote women’s empowerment.