The effect of Confucius Institutes on Chinese outward foreign direct investment: A province-level analysis

From the perspective of cultural impetus from home country, this study examines the effects of Confucius Institutes (CIs) on outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) based on the panel data of 29 Chinese provinces from 2007 to 2016. The findings are as follows: Organizing CIs abroad has a positive and significant effect on OFDI, which can promote a province's OFDI, radiate adjacent provinces, and moderate the relationship between some factors and OFDI like opening-up and human capital; moreover, CIs have a hysteresis effect on promoting OFDI, and provinces in different regions organizing CIs abroad form a different driven force of OFDI. Chinese provinces should give full play to CIs in their OFDI.