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22. The case for a framework agreement on investment
- Author:
- Gary Hufbauer and Sherry Stephenson
- Publication Date:
- 03-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- In Columbia FDI Perspectives, No. 102, Axel Berger claimed that the debate over a multilateral framework for investment is futile. We disagree. Following its achievements at the 9th Ministerial Conference in Bali, Indonesia, the World Trade Organization (WTO) should launch negotiations to draft a 21st century Investment Framework Agreement (IFA).
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, Treaties and Agreements, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- Colombia
23. The "spaghetti bowl" of IIAs: The end of history?
- Author:
- Joachim Karl
- Publication Date:
- 02-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- In his famous book, "The End of History and the Last Man", published in 1992, Francis Fukuyama argued that Western democracy represents the end point of the socio-cultural evolution of humanity and the final form of government.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, Treaties and Agreements, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- France
24. Recalibrating interpretive authority
- Author:
- Anthea Roberts
- Publication Date:
- 01-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- There have been many calls for a rebalancing of investor protection and state sovereignty in the investment treaty system. However, another equally important shift is underway: the recalibration of interpretive authority between treaty parties and arbitral tribunals. In newer-style investment treaties, states are increasingly protecting and enhancing their role in interpreting and applying their treaties.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, International Trade and Finance, Markets, Treaties and Agreements, and Foreign Direct Investment
25. The China-United States BIT negotiations: A Chinese perspective
- Author:
- Sheng Zhang
- Publication Date:
- 01-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- The China-US bilateral investment treaty (BIT) negotiations have attracted attention due to the relative size and weight of both economies. Despite broad consensus about the importance of such a treaty, there is considerable debate about its shape and content. The debate is reflected in two recent Columbia FDI Perspectives. Donnelly argued that a China-US BIT should be modeled on the US Model BIT without "splitting the difference between Chinese and US positions", and that the possibility of meaningful BIT negotiations are "really up to China at this point".
- Topic:
- Economics, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, Bilateral Relations, Foreign Direct Investment, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, Europe, and Colombia
26. Perspectives on topical foreign direct investment issues
- Author:
- Rainer Geiger
- Publication Date:
- 04-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- Launched in July 2013 by the European Union and the United States, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) represents an important effort to reach a comprehensive economic agreement between two major trading partners. As has been pointed out, the project offers great opportunities for liberalizing trade and investment and regulatory convergence. Its level of ambition implies high risks, but despite negotiators' initial optimism, its success is far from certain. This Perspective focuses on the project's investment chapter, drawing lessons from the failed negotiations on a Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), which was meant to consolidate the results of liberalization in the OECD area, establish new disciplines and introduce protection and dispute settlement.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Europe and North America
27. Which host country government actors are most involved in disputes with foreign investors?
- Author:
- Nathan M. Jensen and Jeremy Caddel
- Publication Date:
- 03-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- Foreign direct investors increasingly use investment dispute-settlement mechanisms to resolve investment disputes and reduce political risk. Using data from the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the major forum of international investment arbitration, we cataloged the government actors involved in disputes and the actions that led to arbitration. Existing case-based studies of investment arbitration have provided general inferences about the actors involved, but we contribute to the literature in political science and economics by systematically documenting these patterns of behavior.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, Foreign Direct Investment, and Governance
28. China needs to complement its "going-out" policy with a "going-in" strategy
- Author:
- Karl P. Sauvant and Victor Z. Chen
- Publication Date:
- 05-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- China's rising outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) faces rising skepticism abroad. This is partly the result of the leading role of state-owned enterprises in her OFDI (and the fear that it serves non-commercial purposes), the speed with which this investment has grown, the negative image of the home country in some quarters, and the challenges it poses to established competitors. Moreover, Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs) may not always keep in mind that host countries see FDI as a tool to advance their own development and hence seek maximum benefits from it.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
29. The rise of FDI income, and what it means for the balance of payments of developing countries
- Author:
- Miguel Pérez Ludeña
- Publication Date:
- 05-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- Multinational enterprises (MNEs) multiplied their profits made in developing countries by four between 2002 and 2011 (at current prices). In Latin America and the Caribbean, they rose from US$20 billion in 2002 to US$113 billion in 2011. The growth rate has been even higher in Africa and China, but much lower in developed countries. This rise is explained by an increase in FDI stock in developing economies and the higher average profitability of MNEs.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- Africa, China, and Latin America
30. Government-held equity in foreign investment projects: Good for host countries?
- Author:
- Louis T. Wells
- Publication Date:
- 02-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- A recent Perspective concluded that, in countries given to sudden shifts in policy, "a host country government equity stake in a project may decrease project risk by giving the state a reason not to demand a renegotiation." An investor may benefit, but does the host country? In my experience, rarely.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Foreign Direct Investment
31. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: A critical perspective
- Author:
- Rainer Geiger
- Publication Date:
- 04-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- Launched in July 2013 by the European Union and the United States, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) represents an important effort to reach a comprehensive economic agreement between two major trading partners. As has been pointed out, the project offers great opportunities for liberalizing trade and investment and regulatory convergence. Its level of ambition implies high risks, but despite negotiators' initial optimism, its success is far from certain.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, Treaties and Agreements, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe
32. Perspectives on topical foreign direct investment issues
- Author:
- John Gaffney and James Nicholson
- Publication Date:
- 06-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- In their contribution to the FDI Perspectives series, Baiju Vasani and Anastasiya Ugale drew attention to an emerging trend in favor of the so-called "costs follow the event" (CFtE) (or loser pays) approach, which is in contrast to the more "traditional" approach under which parties share the costs of arbitration equally, with each party covering its own legal fees.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Foreign Direct Investment
33. Outcome Report of Roundtable on Governing Natural Resources
- Publication Date:
- 11-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- Investments in the extractive industries and large-scale land-based investments in forestry and agriculture present similar opportunities for host governments to accelerate sustainable development, as well as comparable challenges to ensure that such investments do not serve as a source of corruption, rights abuses, or environmental degradation. In response to the challenges associated with ensuring successful and inclusive results from such large-scale investments, an increasing number of initiatives have sought to increase good governance over these types of investments. Yet, despite some perceived commonalities between the sectors, the good governance initiatives in respect of extractive industry investments and land-based (forestry or agriculture) investments are often distinct and sector-specific, with few attempts being made to examine how lessons learned from one sector could be applied to the other.
34. Locating production and income within MNEs: An alternative approach based on formulary apportionment
- Author:
- Dylan G. Rassier
- Publication Date:
- 12-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- Economic accountants, who are responsible for measuring gross domestic product (GDP), and tax authorities, which are responsible for collecting tax revenues, face similar challenges with respect to multinational enterprises (MNEs): economic accountants want to know where within an MNE production is taking place and, thus, where to attribute GDP; tax authorities want to know where income from production is earned. Current global guidance on economic accounting and international taxation generally require transactions within MNEs to be recognized at market (or “arm's length”) values as if the transactions are taking place among unrelated entities. However, the values of transactions within MNEs may not reflect economic reality because related entities may exchange unique products with no active markets, and because MNEs may be structured with one or more entities that exist for purposes other than production. As a result, transactions within MNEs may distort economic accounting statistics and tax revenues.
35. Canada's non-reciprocal BIT with China: Would the US or Europe do the same?
- Author:
- Gus Van Harten
- Publication Date:
- 12-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- The Canada - China bilateral investment treaty (BIT) – ratified by Canada on September 12, 2014, after a two - year delay following its signature in 2012 – provides a useful reference for future investment negotiations involving Canada or China and other countries.
- Political Geography:
- China and Canada
36. In Defense of Bilateral Investment Treaties
- Author:
- Stephen M. Schwebel
- Publication Date:
- 11-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- The creation of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) is the boldest step in the modern history of international cooperation on the protection of foreign investment. I t has furthered the flourishing of arbitration between investors and states, itself one of the most progressive developments in international law of the past sixty years. Since Germany concluded the first bilateral investment treaty (BIT) with Pakistan in 1959, some 3,000 BITs have been concluded. Yet, there are reports that the European Union (EU), led by Germany, may exclude investor - state arbitration from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the United States (US), impairing the ubiquity of investor - state arbitration.
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, United States, and Germany
37. The Road to Responsible investment Treaties
- Author:
- Roel Nieuwenkamp Kimmo Sinivuori
- Publication Date:
- 11-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- As the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, first adopted in 1976 and updated for the fifth time in 2011, are approaching middle age, it is appropriate to reflect on how the use of the se far - reaching recommendations for responsible business conduct can be promoted in international investment agreements (IIAs). During the Guideline's almost four decades of existence, the landscape of the global economy has continuously evolved, and securing sustainable development has become a key international issue.
38. The Crucial Role of Infrastructure in Attracting FDI
- Author:
- Peter Nunnenkamp, Julian Donaubauer, and Birgit Meyer
- Publication Date:
- 10-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- It is widely believed that a country's infrastructure is a critical factor in sustaining economic growth, promoting trade and attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). However, better data are required to assess the links between infrastructure, FDI and economic development. The available measures are either restricted to specific aspects of economic infrastructure, or they cover only a limited number of countries over a short period of time.
39. Germany, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and investment-dispute settlement: Observations on a paradox
- Author:
- Ralph Alexander Lorz
- Publication Date:
- 10-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) currently being negotiated between the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) could become the most comprehensive international agreement on free trade and investment protection. The negotiations have mostly been met with the usual criticism that accompanies attempts to expand free trade, despite overwhelming evidence that free trade fosters global economic development.
- Political Geography:
- United States and Germany
40. How to deal with the growing incentives competition
- Author:
- Kenneth P. Thomas
- Publication Date:
- 09-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- As I discussed in an earlier Perspective, the use of investment incentives is pervasive and growing. The most recent example of a big bidding war was when Boeing threatened to move production of its 77 7 - X aircraft out of Washington state, prompting some 20 states to offer incentive packages to the company (including $1.7 billion from Missouri). In the end, Washington gave Boeing a package of tax incentives worth a record - breaking $8.7 billion over the 2 025 – 2040 period to stay, and the unions made substantial concessions regarding pensions.
- Political Geography:
- Washington
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