INFLATION AND FDI IN LATIN AMERICA’S POPULIST LEFT

Authors

  • Antonio Lecuna Facultad de Economía y Negocios, Universidad del Desarrollo

Abstract

The role of foreign direct investment (FDI) as an economic factor in inflation rates is an unanswered question in the literature. Drawing upon the theory of Latin American populism, and based on panel data for the period 1999-2014, this study focuses on the left-leaning Latin American populist context of the twenty-first century to explain consumer price inflation. The populist left is defined here as those governments that are grounded in the radical democracy tradition with a social prioritization standard. The findings suggest that anti-inflationary efforts of the populist left should not only focus on trimming budget deficit by cutting government spending, but also to encourage FDI.

Keywords:

Latin America, populism, inflation, FDI, lef wing