Investigating the relationship between political and economic stability on attracting foreign direct investment in OPEC countries

Of many ways to fund investment, it is Foreign Direct Investment that is most useful ; because the inflow trend of the FDI in addition to funding investment will result in transferring technology , an influx of specialized human resources, management, and knowledge ; hence , it is necessary to scientifically identify effective factors on FDI in order to achieve a sustainable and stable economic growth. What is of utmost importance for an influx of FDI in countries is the political and economic stability. Given the much importance and necessity of the political and economic stability in Iran and the naming of this year as the year of economic and political struggle, the aim of the present study is to investigate the relationship between the political and economic stability on attracting FDI in Iran and other oil exporting countries that are members of the OPEC (including 12 countries) for a timeframe of 1990-2011 using the Panel Data. The results obtained showed that the effect of the political and economic stability on attracting FDI in Iran and other members of the OPEC is positive and significant. Also, the effects of economic growth, economic development rate, inflation and currency exchange rate as independent variables on FDI were investigated