Source Country Differences in the Spatial Distribution of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States

Statistical analysis of foreign direct investment in the United States reveals source country differences in interstate location. We relate these differences to the knowledge foreign investors have of the United States. Regression analysis indicates a significant concentration of foreign investment from individual countries in larger states and in border states. Worldwide investment in the United States does not show these preferences. Investment from Japan and Canada accounted for most of the interstate dispersal of foreign employment in the 1980s.