IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/reapec/143421.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do Bilateral Investment Treaties Deliver the Goods? Evidence from Developing Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Nziramasanga, Mudziviri
  • Inaba, Frederick S.
  • Shreay, Sanatan

Abstract

Bilateral investment treaties (BITs), signed by developing countries explicitly state the objective of promoting foreign direct investment (FDI). The rapid increase in the number of BITs and the concurrent increase in worldwide flows of FDI between 1980 and 2003 suggest that BITs are an effective strategy toward this goal. Recent studies provide some empirical support for this link. However, FDI flows into specific countries from 1980 to 2003 reveals the puzzling behavior for flows to increase soon after country starts signing BITs, followed by fluctuations with either a downward trend or no noticeable trend at all. Our main contribution is to explain this behavior by explicitly incorporating the impact of treaty violations, as evidenced by treaty disputes arbitrated by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, on FDI flows. We find that while BITs are effective in attracting investment, disputes tend to decrease future investment flows.

Suggested Citation

  • Nziramasanga, Mudziviri & Inaba, Frederick S. & Shreay, Sanatan, 2011. "Do Bilateral Investment Treaties Deliver the Goods? Evidence from Developing Countries," Review of Applied Economics, Lincoln University, Department of Financial and Business Systems, vol. 7(1-2), pages 1-23, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:reapec:143421
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.143421
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/143421/files/2-Mudziviri%20Nziramasanga.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.143421?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Neumayer, Eric & Spess, Laura, 2005. "Do bilateral investment treaties increase foreign direct investment to developing countries?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1567-1585, October.
    2. Assaf Razin & Efraim Sadka & Hui Tong, 2008. "Bilateral FDI Flows: Threshold Barriers and Productivity Shocks," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 54(3), pages 451-470, September.
    3. V.N. Balasubramanyam, 2008. "Foreign Direct Investment," Chapters, in: Amitava Krishna Dutt & Jaime Ros (ed.), International Handbook of Development Economics, Volumes 1 & 2, volume 0, chapter 39, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Bubb, Ryan J. & Rose-Ackerman, Susan, 2007. "BITs and bargains: Strategic aspects of bilateral and multilateral regulation of foreign investment," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 291-311, September.
    5. Anil Kumar, 2007. "Does foreign direct investment help emerging economies?," Economic Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, vol. 2(jan).
    6. repec:bla:kyklos:v:54:y:2001:i:1:p:89-113 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Gene M. Grossman, 1981. "The Theory of Domestic Content Protection and Content Preference," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 96(4), pages 583-603.
    8. Mary Hallward-Driemeier, 2003. "Do bilateral investment treaties attract foreign direct investment? Only a bit - and they could bite," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3121, The World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Desbordes, Rodolphe & Vicard, Vincent, 2009. "Foreign direct investment and bilateral investment treaties: An international political perspective," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 372-386, September.
    2. Xiong, Tingting, 2022. "The Effect of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) on the extensive and intensive margins of exports," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 68-79.
    3. Aisbett, Emma, 2007. "Bilateral Investment Treaties and Foreign Direct Investment: Correlation versus Causation," CUDARE Working Papers 7188, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    4. Jennifer Tobin & Susan Rose-Ackerman, 2011. "When BITs have some bite: The political-economic environment for bilateral investment treaties," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-32, March.
    5. Mina, Wasseem, 2009. "External commitment mechanisms, institutions, and FDI in GCC countries," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 371-386, April.
    6. Amendolagine, Vito & Prota, Francesco, 2021. "Bilateral investment treaties and backward linkages in Sub-Saharan Africa," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 172-185.
    7. Makram El-Shagi & Bashir Muhammad, 2024. "Institutional Similarity and Bilateral FDI," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 4605-4638, March.
    8. Cao, Thi Hong Vinh & Lu, Thi Thu Trang & Nguyen, Thi Viet Hoa, 2014. "The Impact of Heterogeneous Bilateral Investment Treaties (BIT) on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows to Vietnam," Papers 916, World Trade Institute.
    9. Mina, Wasseem, 2012. "Beyond FDI: The Influence of Bilateral Investment Treaties on Debt," MPRA Paper 51920, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Li, Shi & Urata, Shujiro & Zhao, Long, 2024. "Does the quality of bilateral investment treaties matter for outward foreign direct investment?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 207-218.
    11. Joao Albino‐Pimentel & Pierre Dussauge & J. Myles Shaver, 2018. "Firm non‐market capabilities and the effect of supranational institutional safeguards on the location choice of international investments," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(10), pages 2770-2793, October.
    12. Aisbett, Emma & Busse, Matthias & Nunnenkamp, Peter, 2016. "Bilateral investment treaties do work: Until they don't," Kiel Working Papers 2021, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    13. Axel Berger & Matthias Busse & Peter Nunnenkamp & Martin Roy, 2013. "Do trade and investment agreements lead to more FDI? Accounting for key provisions inside the black box," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 247-275, June.
    14. Williams, Christopher & Lukoianova (Vashchilko), Tatiana & Martinez, Candace A., 2017. "The moderating effect of bilateral investment treaty stringency on the relationship between political instability and subsidiary ownership choice," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 1-11.
    15. Kazunobu Hayakawa & Hyun-Hoon Lee & Donghyun Park, 2014. "Are Investment Promotion Agencies Effective in Promoting Outward Foreign Direct Investment? The Cases of Japan and Korea," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 28(2), pages 111-138, June.
    16. World Bank, 2007. "East Asian FTAs in Services," World Bank Publications - Reports 19240, The World Bank Group.
    17. Mina, Wasseem Michel, 2012. "The Institutional Reforms Debate and FDI Flows to the MENA Region: The “Best” Ensemble," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(9), pages 1798-1809.
    18. Bergstrand, Jeffrey H. & Egger, Peter, 2013. "What determines BITs?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 107-122.
    19. Bashir Muhammad & Muhammad Kamran Khan, 2023. "Do Institutional Quality and Natural Resources Affect the Outward Foreign Direct Investment of G7 Countries?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 14(1), pages 116-137, March.
    20. Matthias Busse & Jens Königer & Peter Nunnenkamp, 2010. "FDI promotion through bilateral investment treaties: more than a bit?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 146(1), pages 147-177, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:reapec:143421. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aelinnz.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.