This paper employs advanced unit root tests that incorporate Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR), such as the SUR-Augmented Dicky-Fuller (SUR-ADF) and SUR-Fourier Dicky-Fuller (SUR-FADF) tests, to examine whether the variables of interest exhibit unit root processes. More importantly, it proposes a new bounds test within the SUR framework, known as the SUR-Autoregressive Distributed Lag (SUR-ARDL) bounds test, to analyse the co-movement between foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic growth across five countries in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) region from 1980 to 2024. The empirical findings indicate that FDI inflows are more an effect of economic growth than a cause of it in the region.
Wu et al. (Mon,) studied this question.