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Begin New Search Topic Foreign Direct Investment Political Geography Europe Content Type Policy Brief Publishing Institution Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

1. 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

2. 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

3. EU investment agreements and the search for a new balance: A paradigm shift from laissez-faireliberalism toward embedded liberalism?

Author:
Catharine Titi
Publication Date:
01-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
In July 2012, in an internal document, the European Commission's Directorate-General for Trade suggested that future EU investment agreement s (EUIAs) should incorporate regulatory flexibility in the same way in which EU free trade agreements (FTAs) safeguard parties' policy space. Since it is expected that a number of treaties on the EU's negotiating agenda will be concluded in the near future, and given the policy shift that has already taken place in Canada and the US, it is time to start thinking about a new balance in a move away from investment treaties' traditional laissez-faire liberalism toward WTO law's embedded liberalism, a model whereby liberalization is embedded within a wider framework that enables public regulation in the interest of domestic stability.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, World Trade Organization, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:
Europe and Canada

4. Much ado about nothing? State-controlled entities and the change in German investment law

Author:
Thomas Jost
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
The rise of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) -- together state-controlled entities (SCEs) -- has led to concerns that SCEs could threaten national security by following political rather than mere commercial goals with respect to their foreign direct investment (FDI). While developed countries acknowledged that the rise of SCEs should not lead to new barriers to FDI, several have changed their legislation to expand government oversight of FDI flows. In 2009, Germany also tightened its foreign investment regime. What are the first experiences with this change in German investment law?
Topic:
Economics, Markets, Foreign Direct Investment, and Law
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

5. The (lack of) women arbitrators in investment treaty arbitration

Author:
Gus Van Harten
Publication Date:
02-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Investment arbitration has a remarkably poor record on representation of women. This calls for reform of the appointments process for arbitrators, who make important policy choices in the context of global governance.
Topic:
Economics, Gender Issues, International Trade and Finance, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:
Europe

6. From the FDI Triad to multiple FDI poles?

Author:
Karl P. Sauvant and Persephone Economou
Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Twenty years ago, in the inaugural issue of the World Investment Report, the United Nations highlighted a shift in the global pattern of foreign direct investment (FDI) from bipolar, dominated by the United States and the European Community, to tri-polar (the FDI Triad), dominated by the European Community, the United States and Japan.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, United Nations, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:
United States, Japan, and Europe

7. The new Dutch sandwich: The issue of treaty abuse

Author:
George Kahale, III
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Years ago, international tax lawyers introduced us to the term “Dutch sandwich.” The concept was to sandwich a Dutch company between an investor from country A and its investment in country B. The combination of the extensive network of Dutch tax treaties and investor-friendly domestic Dutch tax law meant that country A's investor could reduce withholding tax on dividends out of country B and perhaps eliminate capital gains tax altogether by structuring its investment through a Dutch company.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:
Europe

8. Investment incentives and the global competition for capital

Author:
Kenneth P. Thomas
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Investment incentives (subsidies designed to affect the location of investment) are a pervasive feature of global competition for foreign direct investment (FDI). They are used by the vast majority of countries, at multiple levels of government, in a broad range of industries. They take a variety of forms, including tax holidays, grants and free land. Politicians, at least in the United States, may have good electoral incentives to use them.
Topic:
Development, Environment, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

9. Greek FDI in the Balkans: How is it affected by the crisis in Greece?

Author:
Persephone Economou and Margo Thomas
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
The current Greek crisis raises the question of its impact on foreign direct investment (FDI) by Greece on its neighbors in the Balkans. Greek multinational enterprises (MNEs) first began to establish a presence there in the 1990s, following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. This trend accelerated during the past decade. As of 2009, Greece's outward FDI stock in the Balkans stood at US$ 10.5 billion or 26.5% of Greece's outward FDI stock worldwide.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Global Recession, Foreign Direct Investment, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Europe, Greece, Yugoslavia, and Balkans

10. Is a model EU BIT possible—or even desirable?

Author:
Armand de Mestral
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which entered into force on December 1, 2009, extends the Common Commercial Policy (CCP) articles 206 and 207 to embrace “foreign direct investment.” This raises the question of whether the EU is now in a position to adopt a model BIT articulating a common policy on foreign direct investment (FDI). An EU policy on FDI could replace the disparate efforts of the 27 member states, complementing and reinforcing their efforts and presenting a stronger image to the world, especially at a time when the EU appears to have lost ground to other jurisdictions as a preferred destination for FDI.
Topic:
Economics, Treaties and Agreements, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:
Europe

11. It's time for an EU Investment Promotion Agency

Author:
José Guimón
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
One important novelty of the Lisbon Treaty, ratified by the EU in December 2009, is the inclusion of FDI within the scope of Common Commercial Policy, implying a transfer of certain FDI competences from the member states to the EU, which now has the ability to conclude international investment treaties. Until now, member states had full competence over FDI, and the role of EU institutions was very limited. It remains to be seen how the new Treaty will be interpreted and implemented in light of the difficult legal and political questions that this development raises.
Topic:
Economics, Treaties and Agreements, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:
Europe