The Doing Business indicators published by the World Bank serve as a proxy for assessing the quality of institutions and the business environment. In recent years, Doing Business scores or rankings have been used to evaluate choices affecting foreign direct investment decisions. The study purpose is to examine the extent to which the quality of institutions and the business environment, as reflected in the Doing Business indicators, is associated with higher foreign direct investment inflows in European Union countries. The paper uses data on member country performance based on selected indicators, the Corruption Perception Index, and data on work stoppages and strikes. The latter is used to capture the importance of the labour market environment and political stability. Panel data cover the period 2005–2020 for most European Union member countries. The results suggest that the quality of business and institutional environments is an important factor in attracting foreign direct investment inflows. These results vary considerably depending on the countries chosen and have important policy implications. Specifically, governments should put emphasis not only on the general functioning of the economy, but also on the improvement of institutional quality to attract foreign direct investment.

世界银行发布的营商环境指标可作为评估机构质量和营商环境的指标。近年来，营商环境得分或排名已被用来评估影响外国直接投资决策的选择。研究目的是考察营商环境指标所反映的机构质量和商业环境与欧盟国家外国直接投资流入量增加之间的关联程度。该文件使用了基于选定指标的成员国绩效数据、清廉指数以及停工和罢工数据。后者用于体现劳动力市场环境和政治稳定的重要性。大多数欧盟成员国的面板数据涵盖 2005 年至 2020 年期间。结果表明，商业和制度环境的质量是吸引外国直接投资流入的重要因素。这些结果根据所选国家的不同而有很大差异，并且具有重要的政策影响。具体而言，政府不仅应重视经济的总体运行，还应注重提高吸引外国直接投资的制度质量。