The recent literature on the determinants of foreign direct investments (FDI) has missed to evaluate the role competition laws play in encouraging, or deterring, FDI inflows. The present study fills that gap by theoretically and systematically examining the effect of national competition laws on 155 emerging economies during the period 1970-2019. The findings provide strong evidence of a substantially positive relationship between competition laws and FDI inflows, even after controlling for other possible determinants of these capital flows. The results are particularly instructive for India’s enactment of its Competition Act, 2002 and its subsequent positive effect on the country’s foreign investment inflows. The findings and conclusions of this cross-country empirical study inform scholars and policymakers in developing and transition countries of the importance of competition laws in encouraging FDI in their economies.