Foreign States in Domestic Markets

2021 ◽  
pp. 132-150
Author(s):  
Mark Thatcher ◽  
Tim Vlandas
Keyword(s):  
Financial Markets ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Strategies ◽  
Sovereign Wealth Funds ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Domestic Markets ◽  
National Differences ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Domestic Economies

Comparison of the four countries shows that internationalized statism has developed in the UK, France, and Germany in ways that appear surprising given both popular and academic writings, although there are important cross-national differences in its forms. The US has seen the lowest level of internationalized statism, whereas the UK has pursued extensive and undirected internationalized statism. France and Germany occupy intermediate and more directed forms of internationalized statism. The findings cannot be fully explained by the Sovereign Wealth Funds’ (SWFs’) countries of origin and their choice of investments and also run counter to several expectations about the role of the state and general economic openness. Instead, the chapter offers a political and statist analysis of the growth of internationalized statism by looking within the state, notably at its structure, and the political strategies of policy makers. It also develops wider implications for political economy debates. The findings add to new statist arguments that the state is an active participant in internationalized and liberalized financial markets. Policy makers can use overseas state investors to pursue their domestic political strategies and adapt traditional forms of ‘industrial policies’. Internationalized statism shows that states can use developments in financial markets to find new resources and allies from overseas states to govern their domestic economies. By bringing in the state as an international investor, it shows how liberalization and internationalization can offer novel opportunities for states.

Foreign States in Domestic Markets

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Thatcher ◽  
Tim Vlandas
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Financial Markets ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Sovereign Wealth Funds ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Domestic Markets ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Domestic Economies

Political economy debates have focused on the internationalization of private capital. But foreign states increasingly enter domestic markets as financial investors. How do policy makers in recipient countries react? Do they treat purchases as a threat and impose restrictions or see them as beneficial and welcome them? What are the wider implications for debates about state capacities to govern domestic economies in the face of internationalization of financial markets? In response, the book develops the concept of ‘internationalized statism’—governments welcoming and using foreign state investments to govern their domestic economies—and applies it to the most prominent overseas state investors: Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs). Many SWFs are from Asia and the Middle East and their number and size have greatly expanded, reaching $9 trillion by 2020. The book examines policies towards non-Western SWFs buying company shares in four countries: the US, the UK, France, and Germany. Although the US has imposed significant legal restrictions, the others have pursued internationalized statism in ways that are surprising given both popular and political economy classifications. The book argues that the policy patterns found are related to domestic politics, notably the preferences and capacities of the political executive and legislature, rather than solely economic needs or national security risks. The phenomenon of internationalized statism underlines that overseas state investment provides policy makers in recipient states with new allies and resources. The study of SWFs shows how and why internationalization and liberalization of financial markets offer national policy makers opportunities to govern their domestic economies.

Internationalized Statism

2021 ◽  
pp. 12-31
Author(s):  
Mark Thatcher ◽  
Tim Vlandas
Keyword(s):  
Capital Flows ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
The West ◽  
Sovereign Wealth Funds ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Explanatory Factors ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Domestic Economies

This chapter sets out the analytical framework of ‘internationalized statism’ developed and applied in the book. Although the West is said to be living in an age of internationalized ‘economic (neo-)liberalism’, where capital flows have been liberalized, a ‘new statist’ literature argues that the role of the state has not declined as it adapts and finds novel instruments and forms of action to govern economies. Building on new statist studies, the chapter introduces the concept of ‘internationalized statism’: policies to use foreign states to govern domestic economies. It develops the concept, notably by distinguishing between the extent and form of internationalized statism. It underlines that whilst most political economy studies have focused on private international capital flows, states themselves can use liberalization of financial markets to cross borders, offering new opportunities for policy makers in recipient states to find allies and resources for economic governance Policies towards equity investments bynon-Western Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) offer an empirically and theoretically important example of internationalized statism: SWFs are large and growing; most SWFs are in non-democratic countries; equity purchases offer the potential for overseas influence or control over companies. The chapter then sets out the book’s research design: four country case studies are chosen because of variations in different relevant explanatory factors. It concludes that the concept of internationalized statism contributes to understanding how national policy makers use state economic internationalization to govern their domestic economies.

Austerity, Women and the Role of the State

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicki Dabrowski
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Symbiotic Relationship ◽  
Class Relations ◽  
Everyday Lives ◽  
Gendered Politics ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Diverse Backgrounds ◽  
Everyday Experiences ◽  
The Uk

Using interviews with women from diverse backgrounds, the author of this book makes an invaluable contribution to the debates around the gendered politics of austerity in the UK. Exploring the symbiotic relationship between the state's legitimization of austerity and women's everyday experiences, the book reveals how unjust policies are produced, how alternatives are silenced and highlights the different ways in which women are used or blamed. By understanding austerity as more than simply an economic project, the book fills important gaps in existing knowledge on state, gender and class relations in the context of UK austerity. Delivering a timely account of the misconceptions of policies, discourses and representations around austerity in the UK, the book illustrates the complex ways through which austerity is experienced by women in their everyday lives.

Food charity and the changing welfare state

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Lambie-Mumford
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Local Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Food Markets ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Food Standards ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Food Charity ◽  
Access To Food

Chapter 7 looks at the role of the state and examines the changing nature of the UK welfare state and the impact these changes are having on the need for and shape of emergency food provision. The chapter argues that social security and on-going reforms to it are impacting on need for emergency food in two key ways: through changes to the levels of entitlement; and problematic administrative processes. Furthermore, the consequences of welfare reforms are impacting on the nature of these systems. As the level of need is driven up, projects are re-considering their operations, contemplating logistics and means of protecting projects’ access to food. At a local level, particular reforms appear to be embedding local welfare systems which increasingly incorporate local food projects.The question of the state as duty bearer is discussed. By right to food standards the welfare state can be considered a vital aspect to both fulfilling and protecting people’s right; but the state’s role is much broader, encompassing action in relation to labour markets, commercial food markets and other spheres where it could exercise influence to respect and protect people’s human right.

Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Mark Thatcher ◽  
Tim Vlandas
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Middle East ◽  
The State ◽  
Private Capital ◽  
Economic Openness ◽  
Sovereign Wealth Funds ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Economic Actor ◽  
Domestic Economies

This introductory chapter offers an overview of the book. It identifies the growing size and importance of overseas state investors and how they challenge current political economy analyses of the state. The phenomenon is well illustrated by Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs): state-owned investment bodies, often from Asia and the Middle East, that have bought shares in major firms in strategic sectors ranging from finance to communications and transport, as well as landmark buildings. The chapter presents the puzzle of the widespread acceptance of SWF investments: national responses to SWF purchases might have been expected to be hostile, especially as they represent entry into Western stock markets by non-Western overseas states. Yet many Western governments have accepted and often actively encouraged SWF investments, seeing them as an additional means to govern their domestic economies and pursue their political strategies. The chapter then situates this puzzle in the wider political economy literature on the role and power of the state in an increasingly internationalized economy. It argues that recent political economy works focus on the internationalization of private capital, ignoring the capacity of the state itself to become a cross-border economic actor. It summarizes the book’s findings that several Western governments have engaged in internationalized statism, underlining that the patterns of policy differ sharply from those that might be expected given popular and academic views of economic openness.

scholarly journals Mediating the form and direction of regional sustainable development: The role of the state in renewable energy deployment in selected regions

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-317
Author(s):  
Carla De Laurentis
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
National Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Ability To Act ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Strategic Goals ◽  
The Uk ◽  
National Governments

This paper analyses and critically discusses the role of regions in implementing renewable energy (RE) policies, examining the relationship between state policy and RE deployment. Using evidence from four case study regions, Apulia and Tuscany in Italy and Wales and Scotland in the UK, the paper teases out some differences in terms of regional competencies to implement RE policies across the two countries. The national governments in both Italy and the UK have constructed regulatory and governance relationships to orchestrate and reorder economic, social and ecological challenges and devolve responsibilities at the sub-national level. This has offered an opportunity for the peculiarities of regional setups to be taken into account and regions have contributed towards the promotion of green and sustainable path development via the route of promoting RE deployment. The paper argues that the downscaling and distribution of responsibility in the cases investigated reflect the capacity and willingness of nation states to respond to and mediate the strategic goals and outcomes formulated at national and international levels. Nevertheless, while the regions investigated display differences in their incentives, capacities and capabilities to increase RE deployment, their ability to act is very much influenced by nation states, stressing the important role of the state in mediating the form and direction of RE deployment.

scholarly journals Exploring the role of the state in the depoliticisation of UK transport policy

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Reardon ◽  
Greg Marsden
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Analysis ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
The State ◽  
Transport Policy ◽  
Full Circle ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
The Uk

This paper responds to calls for greater empirical investigation of the interrelationships between depoliticisation and repoliticisation processes. It does so by applying the ‘three faces’ (governmental, societal and discursive) organising perspective to a longitudinal analysis of transport policy in the UK. This case is important because acceptance of the current dominant policy solution ‐ infrastructure spending ‐ appears to have come full circle over a 30-year period. The research finds that today’s focus on infrastructure is enabled through intersecting and reinforcing depoliticisation processes, supporting the ‘three faces’ perspective. However, the paper also highlights the need for greater recognition of the state as a meta-governor of depoliticisation and the need for clarity on which aspect of a policy solution or problem (or the connections between them) is being depoliticised and repoliticised to better elucidate politicisation processes.

scholarly journals The Role of the State in Financial Markets

1993 ◽  
Vol 7 (suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 19-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph E. Stiglitz
Keyword(s):  
Financial Markets ◽  
The State ◽  
Role Of The State
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