A Research on the Impact of Digital Service Trade Barriers on IFDI

Relying on the OECD-DSTRI database's digital services trade restriction index, this paper explores the impact of digital services trade barriers on IFDI by combining IFDI data from 41 countries from 2014-2019. The findings show that trade barriers to digital services have a significant dampening effect on the level of IFDI in each country, especially in the five sub-indicators in the area of infrastructure and connectivity, where the negative impact is most prominent. In addition, from the perspective of countries at different levels of development, digital services trade barriers have a more significant dampening effect on IFDI in developed countries. The findings of this paper provide empirical support for promoting IFDI growth by reducing trade control barriers and promoting trade liberalization in digital services.