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112. The coming harmonization of climate change policy and international investment law
- Author:
- Daniel M. Firger
- Publication Date:
- 05-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- Developments in climate change policy and international investment law may be ushering in a new era characterized by profound harmonization between the two regimes. Although policy instruments such as the Kyoto Protocol's “Clean Development Mechanism” (CDM) have been in existence for years, it is only relatively recently that the international community has turned to low-carbon foreign direct investment (FDI) and away from command-and-control regulation as the preferred means by which to achieve future greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Meanwhile, states have begun to renegotiate international investment agreements (IIAs) or sign new treaties to take into account policy goals, including climate change mitigation, that extend beyond the regime's traditional preoccupation with investor protection. Though still somewhat tentative, emerging trends in both arenas are thus showing unmistakable signs of convergence.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Economics, Industrial Policy, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- United States and China
113. Inward FDI in Malaysia and its policy context
- Author:
- Rajah Rasiah and Chandran Govindaraju
- Publication Date:
- 04-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- Malaysia is still perceived as an important destination for foreign direct investment (FDI). Deregulation by the Malaysian government in 1986 with a new round of Pioneer status tax holidays, tax allowances for expansion projects, liberal rules for firms operating in free trade zones (FTZs), and tax exemptions are encouraging stronger FDI inflows (IFDI). IFDI flows reached a peak in 1988-1993 as export-oriented foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs) relocated manufacturing production operations to Malaysia to benefit from cheap labor, government incentives and liberal conditions for manufacturing FDI. After 1996, due to the Asian financial crisis in 1997-1998, IFDI flows into Malaysia decreased and subsequently recorded the lowest level in 2001 as a result of the world trade recession. Following steady growth in 2002-2007, IFDI in Malaysia fell dramatically in 2008 and 2009 due to the global economic crisis. However, a strong resumption in the first quarter of 2010 and government efforts, including continued liberalization of manufacturing and services, the Government Transformation Programme, promoting new key economic areas, and the active role of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), contributed to an increase in inward FDI flows in the second quarter of 2010.
- Topic:
- Economics, Industrial Policy, International Trade and Finance, Foreign Direct Investment, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Malaysia and Southeast Asia
114. Inward FDI in Norway and its policy context
- Author:
- Leo A. Grünfeld and Gabriel R.G. Benito
- Publication Date:
- 04-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- Norwegian inward foreign direct investment (IFDI) has increased rapidly since 2000. A stock of US$ 30 billion in 2000 grew by almost 300% to US$ 116 bill ion by 2009, a growth stronger than that of most other OECD member countries. The development of Norwegian IFDI has been rather uneven, with stable periods punctuated by boom years. IFDI in 2008 was lower than in 2007, partly reflecting the cooling down of the world economy as a result of the international financial and economic crisis. The latest available data indicate that IFDI remained in a slump in 2009. The composition of Norwegian IFDI largely follows the structure of Norway's private-sector economy, with a clear dominance of the oil and gas sector. The manufacturing sector is gradually losing its appeal to foreign investors, although more slowly than one would expect considering the reduced importance of this sector in the Norwegian economy.
- Topic:
- Economics, Industrial Policy, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- United States
115. Outward FDI from Poland and its policy context, 2011
- Author:
- Zbigniew Zimny
- Publication Date:
- 06-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- During the transition toward a market economy, for many years Poland's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) was small and limited to trade-supporting activities in key export markets. It took off and started growing rapidly only five or six years ago, when the Polish private sector had matured enough to start generating home-grown multinational enterprises (MNEs). Some state-owned enterprises (SOEs) began also investing abroad, sometimes with the Government's encouragement. By contrast, in terms of private companies, Poland adopted a laissez-faire policy, leaving the emergence and expansion of private MNEs to market forces. In addition, Poland became a source and a transit country for large cross-border flows of funds among units of foreign and Polish firms, classified as FD I flows, artificially inflating OFDI. In the first year of the worldwide financial and economic crisis (2008) OFDI flows declined rather modestly to start growing again in 2009 and 2010 due to a relatively good performance of the Polish economy during the crisis.
- Topic:
- Economics, Industrial Policy, Markets, Foreign Direct Investment, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Poland
116. Achieving Greater Disclosure in the Oil Gas Industry
- Author:
- Craig Fagan
- Publication Date:
- 05-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Transparency International
- Abstract:
- Globally, petroleum and its derivatives account for 15 per cent of the world's trade. Oil and gas production serves to meet nearly 60 percent of the energy consumed worldwide. Demands on the industry are only rising as expanding economies such as China and India require more energy to grow.
- Topic:
- Security, Industrial Policy, Oil, and Natural Resources
- Political Geography:
- United States and United Nations
117. Ensuring Corporate Transparency to Mitigate Climate Change
- Publication Date:
- 02-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Transparency International
- Abstract:
- Mitigation to reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases will require substantial shifts in energy policy, consumer habits and technology development. As a major contributor of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and a driver of technological change, corporations will be crucial in shaping the solutions to many of these challenges.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Industrial Policy, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
- Political Geography:
- United States
118. Service Innovation and the Proximity-Concentration Trade-off Model of Trade and FDI
- Author:
- Fulvio Castellacci
- Publication Date:
- 06-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- This paper introduces service innovation in the proximity-concentration trade-off model of trade and FDI (Helpman, Melitz and Yeaple, 2004). The idea is that innovation will have two main effects on service firms' choice between exports and FDI. First, innovative firms will on average have higher productivity levels than non-innovative enterprises. Secondly, innovators will have to pay a higher relational distance cost for undertaking export activities, and they will therefore prefer to avoid (or reduce) these costs by choosing a FDI strategy instead. We test the empirical relevance of this idea on a new survey dataset for a representative sample of firms in all business service sectors in Norway. The results show that firms are more likely to choose FDI rather than export the greater their productivity level and the higher the relational distance costs they face.
- Topic:
- Industrial Policy, International Trade and Finance, and Foreign Direct Investment
119. Globalization, Wages, and Working Conditions: A Case Study of Cambodian Garment Factories
- Author:
- Cael Warren and Raymond Robertson
- Publication Date:
- 06-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- We use a comprehensive data set of working conditions and wage compliance in Cambodia's exporting garment factories to explore (1) the impact of foreign ownership on wages and working conditions, (2) whether the relationship between wages and working conditions within these exporting factories more closely resembles efficiency wage or compensating differential theory, and (3) whether the wage-working conditions relationship differs between domestically owned and foreign-owned firms. We find that foreign ownership increases compliance on both wages and working conditions, contradicting the contention that higher wages in foreign-owned firms compensate workers for worse working conditions. In addition, we find a robust positive relationship between wages and working conditions in the sample as a whole, suggesting that efficiency wages or a similar theory more accurately explains the behavior of these exporting firms than compensating differentials.
- Topic:
- Development, Industrial Policy, and Labor Issues
- Political Geography:
- Cambodia and Southeast Asia
120. Better Factories Cambodia: An Instrument for Improving Industrial Relations in a Transnational Context
- Author:
- Raymond Robertson and Arianna Rossi
- Publication Date:
- 06-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- Globalization of production has created an environment for labor-management relations that involves international actors and spans countries, going beyond the boundaries of the traditional workspace. The dramatic changes brought about by globalization led to the emergence of new cross-border forms of industrial relations. This paper analyses the case of the International Labour Organization's Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) project as a transnational instrument to create the institutional space for industrial relations in Cambodia. Based on the principle of social dialogue among the social partners (the national Government and workers' and employers' organizations) as well as with global buyers, BFC's multistakeholder approach reaches beyond the workplace and may be a key instrument of industrial relations because it bridges the gap between the sphere of production and that of consumption. The empirical results reveal some of the particular strengths of the program.
- Topic:
- Development, Globalization, Industrial Policy, International Trade and Finance, and Labor Issues
- Political Geography:
- Cambodia and Southeast Asia