Firms in International Political Economy

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

Recent studies have demonstrated the power of the firm-centered approach to economic globalization. This panel departs from the existing literature by focusing on various channels of influence between firms and between firms and states. In doing so, we shed new light on the increasingly critical and controversial role of multinational corporations (MNCs) in global economic integration and great power competition. To begin with, Zhang’s paper investigates how global value chains bring together their corporate stakeholders and foster novel trade coalitions, while Lee stresses the role of cross-border mergers and acquisitions in introducing foreign political influence. On the other hand, Li’s study shows how some firms leverage their common strategic interests with the state to secure subsidies and contracts amid US-China competition. Wellhausen and Zhu explain firms’ exiting from Russia based on both their nationality and economic rationality. Finally, we return to Lee and Stone’s paper that employs a structural approach to MNCs’ political influence in a dynamic setup.

All of the papers employ new methods and novel data to address the fundamental question about firms and states and to tackle the most salient cases in today’s world. Therefore, we expect this panel to attract not only scholars interested in international political economy, but also researchers and practitioners who study business and politics in general. The participants of this panel have helped organize panels on international political economy at APSA meetings in recent years and the turnouts for these panels have been consistently high.

Sub Unit

• Division 16: International Political Economy

Individual Presentations

• Commerce, Coalitions, and Global Value Chains - Hao Zhang, Princeton University

• Political Cross-Border M&A - Jieun Lee, University at Buffalo, SUNY

• Navigating Sanction Seesaw: How China Helps Firms Sanctioned in the US - Jialu Li, Harvard University

• Exiting Russia - Rachel Wellhausen, University of Texas at Austin; Boliang Zhu, Pennsylvania State University

• Multinational Lobbyist: A Structural Approach to Lobbying and Foreign Investment - Sangmin Lee, University of Rochester; Randall W. Stone, University of Rochester

Chair

• Erica Owen University of Pittsburgh

Discussants

• Edmund J. Malesky Duke University

• Jeffry A. Frieden Columbia University