Foreign Direct Investment in Health Services

The purpose of this paper is to document the emergence and growth of FDI in health services, and to discuss its drivers, potential benefits and risks associated with this FDI, as well as policy issues. This is not an easy task. While trade in health services, in particular that related to medical tourism, is quite well covered in the literature on international health services, the situation as regards FDI in this sector is similar to that in the education sector. It was described in a following way in a recent World Bank publication: “There are considerable gaps in the knowledge base concerning FDI and trade in health services. Most of the issues highlighted are ‘data free’, based on theory, assumption, experience in other sectors, or conjecture. Unfortunately, empirically very little has actually been done on FDI and health.