Dmytro Zatonatskiy

SESE “The Academy of Financial Management”,

Kyiv, Ukraine

E-mail: dzatonat@gmail.com

ORCID 0000-0002-4828-9144

Determinants of global migration: The impact of esg investments and foreign direct investment

Serhiy Leonov

Silesian University of Technology,

Zabrze, Poland;

Sumy State University,

Sumy, Ukraine

E-mail: slyeonov@gmail.com

ORCID 0000-0001-5639-3008

Wojciech Cieśliński

Wroclaw University of Health and Sport Sciences, Wrocław, Poland

E-mail: wojciech.cieslinski@awf.wroc.pl

ORCID 0000-0001-8226-607X

László Vasa

Széchenyi István University,

Hungary 

E-mail: vasalaszlo@gmail.com 

ORCID 0000-0002-3805-0244

Abstract. In response to global economic, social, and environmental problems, ESG investment principles have changed the approach to directing and structuring foreign direct investment. Additionally, they are becoming an essential factor in attracting migrants. This article aims to determine the impact of foreign direct investment on global migration trends and their peculiarities with the introduction of ESG investment principles. For this purpose, global foreign direct investment flows, global ESG investment flows, and global migration trends have been analyzed from 1995 to 2022. Pairwise correlation calculation was used as the primary analysis method through R-Studio software with integrated R programming language. The results indicated a 35% correlation between the volume of global ESG investment flows and the number of international migrants (as a percentage of the total population, which varies between 3.2% and 3.6%) for 2010-2022. Subsequently, regression analysis was conducted to explore the relationship between critical variables: investment flows and the level of migration in four European countries (France, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Germany). It was determined that investment inflows led to new jobs, accelerated economic growth, and improved business climate, thus encouraging reduced outflow and increased inflow of migrants. Investments based on ESG principles also reduce emigration as they enhance the quality of life in the host country, provide better environmental protection, and promote more transparent corporate management. However, it should be noted that investments have no apparent impact on migration caused by external factors such as wars or political conflicts, so such analysis should not include periods of global economic and political unrest.

Received: February, 2023

1st Revision: January, 2024

Accepted: March, 2024

DOI: 10.14254/2071-789X.2024/17-1/14

JEL Classification: F21, F22, J61

Keywords: international migration, foreign direct investment, ESG investment principles, correlation analysis, regression analysis, ESG investing