Regional Investment Flows from Greece to Bulgaria in the COVID‐19 context: is there a halt trend?

Abstract

This paper offers a comprehensive analysis of the investment flows from Greek to Bulgarian regions against the context of COVID‐19. Employing a mixed research method, it investigates the initial impact of COVID‐19 on regional FDI flows from Greece to Bulgaria and intends to explore to which extent the pandemic acts as an impediment to firm relocation, by examining regional investment flows from 2013 to 2020. The effects of the COVID‐19 macroeconomic shock are placed in the context of the existing conditions shaped by the 2008 global economic crisis. The paper also attempts to provide a critical insight of factors underlying investment flows. The results indicate that there was a limited investment halt but no disinvestment from the Greek to Bulgarian regions in the first year of the COVID‐19 outbreak. Low and stable taxation, cheap labour and efficient regulatory regime attract Greek investments in Bulgaria.