Abstract: Economic policy uncertainty is an important factor affecting corporate outward foreign direct investment (OFDI). Based on the uncertainty index of economic policies constructed by Baker and others, this paper conducts an empirical test of the impact of economic policy uncertainty on corporate OFDI by using the matching data of China’s A-share listed companies and the “List of Branches of Chinese Enterprises Established Overseas” during the period of 2007-2014. The results show that the economic policy uncertainty has a significant positive correlation with the probability of corporate OFDI. The findings of further study reveal that when economic policy uncertainty rises, compared to state-owned enterprises, labor-intensive and capital-intensive enterprises, high-productivity enterprises and more financing-constrained enterprises, the OFDI probability of non-state-owned enterprises, technology-intensive enterprises, low-productivity enterprises and less financing-constrained enterprises is higher. When the impact of financial crisis is taken into account, it is found that financial crisis will significantly reduce the probability of corporate OFDI under the uncertainty of the established economic policies.

Key words: economic policy uncertainty; outward foreign direct investment; financial crisis