Political Implications of Foreign Direct Investment: Promising Trends & Methods

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

Domestic effects and political consequences of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) have long been examined by political science scholars. While it is widely agreed that FDI can enhance growth and productivity, there is ambiguity about how FDI affects or is influenced by domestic political circumstances. For example, there is - to this date - no definite answer on whether FDI leads to a race to the bottom or promotes labor and human rights in the host country. Due to diverging empirical findings in studies using highly aggregated data, scholars have started to disentangle FDI to better understand its effects at domestic and sub-national level: Doing so, recent research disaggregates FDI, analyzes sector specific effects, constructs more reliable data for FDI also in developing regions and examines reciprocal causalities that potentially confound empirical analyses. All of these research paths have recently opened up the ongoing debate over political implications and may allow us to better understand the prospects of FDI. This panel brings together scholars who are exploring effects of FDI in various national contexts and - through new methods - provide fundamental knowledge for future research on political implications.

Sub Unit

• Division 16: International Political Economy

Chair

• Tim Buthe Technical University of Munich (TUM)

Discussants

• Sarah Bauerle Danzman Indiana University

• Rachel Wellhausen University of Texas at Austin

Individual Presentations

• Race to the Bottom or Climb to the Top? FDI and 'Cash' vs 'Core' Labor Standards - Nicole Janz, University of Nottingham; Luca Elias Messerschmidt, TUM School of Governance

• Globalization and the Politics of Informality - Harish S.P., College of William & Mary; Helen V. Milner, Princeton University; Nita Rudra, Georgetown University

• Foreign Investment and Shifts in Party Alignment: Evidence from Latin America - Alexander Slaski, Leiden University

• Economic Integration Increases Support for Globalization: Evidence from India - Benjamin Clay Helms, University of Virginia; Sonal S. Pandya, University of Virginia