{"type":"script","doc_desc":{"producers":[{"name":"Reproducibility WBG","abbr":"DECDI","affiliation":"World Bank - Development Impact Department","role":"Verification and preparation of metadata"}],"prod_date":"2026-09-22","version":"1"},"project_desc":{"authoring_entity":[{"name":"Dilek Aykut","affiliation":"World Bank","email":"daykut@worldbank.org"},{"name":"Nimarjit Singh","affiliation":"World Bank","email":"nsingh18@worldbank.org"},{"name":"Paolo Mauro","affiliation":"World Bank","email":"pmauro@worldbankgroup.org"},{"name":"Alexei Volkov","affiliation":"IFC","email":"avolkov@ifc.org"}],"title_statement":{"title":"Reproducibility package for From Announcement to Completion: Tracking Big FDI Projects in LICs","idno":"RR_WLD_2026_757"},"data_statement":"Some data is not yet publicly available but is expected to be made available through the World Bank Development Data Hub in the future.","software":[{"name":"Stata","version":"19.5 MP"}],"scripts":[{"title":"Reproducibility package for From Announcement to Completion: Tracking Big FDI Projects in LICs","date":"2026-09","notes":"Computational reproducibility verified by Development Impact (DECDI) Analytics team, World Bank.","instructions":"See README in reproducibility package.","file_name":"RR_WLD_2026_757","zip_package":"RR_WLD_2026_757.zip","dependencies":"Stata dependencies are listed in the ado folder."}],"repository_uri":[{"name":"Reproducible Research Repository (World Bank)","uri":"https:\/\/reproducibility.worldbank.org"}],"production_date":"2026-09-22","abstract":"Although many studies have analyzed the drivers and impact of foreign direct investment, less is known about its determinants at different stages of the investment planning and implementation cycle. Meanwhile, researchers are increasingly relying on data tracking announcements of FDI projects, rather than traditional balance-of-payments information, which reflects actual investments. But what share of announced projects is completed, and what factors can derail an investment\u2019s progress after a decision is announced? This paper examines the implementation outcomes of all large announced greenfield FDI projects in low-income countries (LICs) between 2011 and 2020 and explores some of the factors associated with greater likelihood of implementation. We find that less than half of projects in our sample were completed or remained on track. Implementation outcomes vary considerably across sectors and source countries. Based on a systematic analysis of publicly available information reported by companies and the media, the most frequently reported barriers to project realization seem to be policy, regulatory, and administrative constraints, as well as financing difficulties and investor-related challenges. Moreover, econometric results indicate that stronger post-announcement economic growth increases the likelihood of project completion, whereas larger projects are less likely to become operational. Among completed projects, the average time from announcement to operation is about three years; timelines vary across business activities but show little relationship with project size.\n","geographic_units":[{"name":"World","code":"WLD"}],"keywords":[{"name":"Foreign Direct Investment"},{"name":"Greenfield Fdi"},{"name":"Project Completion"},{"name":"Investment Implementation"},{"name":"Low-Income Countries"},{"name":"Investment Barriers"},{"name":"Economic Growth"}],"output":[{"type":"Working Paper","description":"Policy Research Working Paper (PRWP)","title":"From Announcement to Completion: Tracking Big FDI Projects in LICs"}],"language":[{"name":"English","code":"EN"}],"technology_requirements":"Run time: ~ 2 minutes. ","disclaimer":"The materials in the reproducibility packages are distributed as they were prepared by the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development\/The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this event do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank, the Executive Directors of the World Bank, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the materials included in the reproducibility package.","license":[{"name":"MIT License","uri":"https:\/\/opensource.org\/license\/mit"},{"name":"World Bank IGO Rider","uri":"https:\/\/github.com\/worldbank\/metadata-editor\/blob\/main\/WB-IGO-RIDER.md"}],"contacts":[{"name":"Dilek Aykut","affiliation":"World Bank","email":"daykut@worldbank.org"},{"name":"Reproducibility WBG","affiliation":"World Bank","email":"reproducibility@worldbank.org"}],"datasets":[{"name":"FDI Project Status and Outcomes in Low-Income Countries, 2011-2020","note":"File: Data\/master_data.dta. World Bank-created project-level dataset of FDI project characteristics, implementation status and outcomes, and supporting evidence used to assess project implementation. This is the project-level analytical source dataset for the whole package. It contains data derived from licensed fDi Markets records and is currently classified as Confidential; the full package cannot be run by an external third party for this reason. It is being deposited in the World Bank Development Data Hub (DDH).","access_type":"Data is forthcoming in the World Bank World Bank Development Data Hub.","citation":"World Bank. \"FDI Project Status and Outcomes in Low-Income Countries, 2011-2020\" [dataset]. World Bank Development Data Hub. Forthcoming."},{"name":"GDP Growth Data (IMF World Economic Outlook and World Bank Macro Poverty Outlook, April 2026)","note":"File: Data\/GDP_Growth_Master.xlsx. Country-year real GDP growth data used to construct the growth-shift variable in the econometric analysis, built from the IMF World Economic Outlook (WEO), April 2026, for all countries, and the World Bank Macro Poverty Outlook (MPO), April 2026, for Syria and Yemen where the corresponding IMF WEO observations are unavailable. Used by Code\/prepare_econometrics.do to construct the project-level growth-shift measure.","access_type":"Data is publicly available and included in the reproducibility package.","license":"The Use of IMF Data","license_uri":"https:\/\/www.imf.org\/en\/about\/copyright-and-terms","uri":"https:\/\/data.imf.org\/Datasets\/WEO; https:\/\/www.worldbank.org\/en\/publication\/macro-poverty-outlook","citation":"International Monetary Fund. 2026. World Economic Outlook Database, April 2026. Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund. World Bank. 2026. Macro Poverty Outlook, April 2026: Country-by-Country Analysis and Projections for the Developing World. Washington, DC: World Bank."},{"name":"UCDP\/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset, version 25.1","note":"File: Data\/UcdpPrioConflict_v25_1.dta. Country-year conflict data used to identify war-intensity conflict occurring in the project announcement year or the following two years. Accessed June 2026.","access_type":"Data is publicly available and included in the reproducibility package.","license":"UCDP terms of use ","uri":"https:\/\/ucdp.uu.se\/downloads\/olddw.html","citation":"Davies, Shawn, Ther\u00e9se Pettersson, Margareta Sollenberg, and Magnus \u00d6berg. 2025. \"Organized violence 1989-2024, and the challenges of identifying civilian victims.\" Journal of Peace Research 62(4)."},{"name":"fDi Markets Annual Aggregate FDI Series ","note":"File: Data\/figure1_fdim_totals.dta. Author-prepared annual aggregate series of announced greenfield FDI, used solely to reproduce Figure 1; contains aggregate annual values only, not the underlying project-level fDi Markets records. Underlying source: fDi Markets, Financial Times, accessed through the World Bank Group's institutional subscription, August 2025. The underlying project-level database is proprietary and not publicly redistributed.","access_type":"Data access requires purchase or human approval and is not included in the reproducibility package.","license":"fDi Markets (Financial Times) institutional subscription terms","citation":"Authors' compilation. 2025. \"fDi Markets Annual Aggregate FDI Series\" [dataset]. World Bank, From Announcement to Completion: Tracking Big FDI Projects in LICs. Based on fDi Markets, Financial Times, accessed via World Bank Group institutional subscription, August 2025.\n"},{"name":"Balance-of-Payments FDI Aggregate Series","note":"File: Data\/figure1_imf_bop.dta. Author-prepared annual aggregate FDI series used solely to reproduce Figure 1, compiled from multiple balance-of-payments and related statistical sources: IMF Balance of Payments, IMF International Financial Statistics, IMF World Economic Outlook, World Bank World Development Indicators, national authorities, the UNCTAD World Investment Report, Bank of Mauritius Monthly Statistical Bulletin, Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB) FDI flow statistics, and DECPM annual estimates based on year-to-date data. IMF BOP, IMF IFS, IMF WEO, World Bank WDI, and selected national-authority series were retrieved through Haver Analytics under the World Bank Group's institutional access; UNCTAD, Bank of Mauritius, and MNB series are separately publicly available. Accessed August 2025. The package contains only the prepared annual aggregate series, not the underlying Haver-sourced series.","access_type":"Data access requires purchase or human approval and is not included in the reproducibility package.","license":"Custom","citation":"Authors' compilation. 2025. \"Balance-of-Payments FDI Aggregate Series\" [dataset]. Based on IMF Balance of Payments, IMF International Financial Statistics, and IMF World Economic Outlook; World Bank World Development Indicators; national authorities; the UNCTAD World Investment Report; Bank of Mauritius Monthly Statistical Bulletin; and Magyar Nemzeti Bank FDI flow statistics. IMF and World Bank series accessed via Haver Analytics, August 2025.\"\n"}],"reproduction_instructions":"To reproduce the findings in this paper, a replicator must:\n1. **Secure Access to Data:** Access the datasets not included in the package. See the Datasets section for more details.\n2. **Run the Package:** Update the working directory in line 13 of the do-file \"main\", and run it.\n\nSince not all the data is included, the package includes the results produced by replicators. These files can be used to review the results presented in the paper.","technology_environment":"Paper exhibits were reproduced on a computer with the following specifications:\n\u2022 OS: Windows 11 Enterprise\n\u2022 Processor: Intel(R) Xeon(R) Gold 5218 CPU @ 2.30GHz (2.30 GHz) (2 processors)\n\u2022 Memory available: 32.0 GB"},"datacite":{"creators":[{"givenName":"Dilek","familyName":"Aykut","nameType":"Personal","affiliation":[{"name":"World Bank","affiliationIdentifier":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00ae7jd04","affiliationIdentifierScheme":"ROR","schemeUri":"https:\/\/ror.org"}]},{"givenName":"Nimarjit","familyName":"Singh","nameType":"Personal","affiliation":[{"name":"World Bank","affiliationIdentifier":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00ae7jd04","affiliationIdentifierScheme":"ROR","schemeUri":"https:\/\/ror.org"}]},{"givenName":"Paolo","familyName":"Mauro","nameType":"Personal","affiliation":[{"name":"World Bank","affiliationIdentifier":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00ae7jd04","affiliationIdentifierScheme":"ROR","schemeUri":"https:\/\/ror.org"}]},{"givenName":"Alexei","familyName":"Volkov","nameType":"Personal","affiliation":[{"name":"IFC","affiliationIdentifier":"https:\/\/ror.org\/049rm1a24","affiliationIdentifierScheme":"ROR","schemeUri":"https:\/\/ror.org"}]}],"titles":[{"lang":"en","title":"Reproducibility package for From Announcement to Completion: Tracking Big FDI Projects in LICs"},{"title":"RR_WLD_2026_757","titleType":"Other"}],"publisher":"World Bank","publicationYear":"2026","types":{"resourceType":"Reproducibility package","resourceTypeGeneral":"Other"},"url":"https:\/\/reproducibility.worldbank.org\/index.php\/catalog\/study\/RR_WLD_2026_757","language":"en"},"tags":[{"tag":"Accessible Data"},{"tag":"DOI"},{"tag":"Forthcoming Data"},{"tag":"Open Code"}],"schematype":"script"}