Government Partisanship, Unionization and the Structure of Investment Liberalization

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 825-846
Author(s):  
Jia Chen ◽  
Seungbin Park
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Wage Bargaining ◽  
Capital Inflows ◽  
Entry Barriers ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Industrial Democracies ◽  
Policy Measures ◽  
Fdi Policies ◽  
Compound Effect

AbstractGovernments in advanced industrial democracies generally regulate foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows with two types of policy measures: entry barriers and post-establishment restrictions. This article provides an integrated account for the two types of FDI restrictions, which is largely absent in the existing literature. We argue that the government's choice of FDI policies is shaped by a compound effect of the incumbent's ideological orientation and the political influence of unionized labour. Although inward FDI broadly benefits domestic workers, the entrance of multinational corporations (MNCs) adversely impacts the unionized interests of labour by transforming the labour market in ways detrimental to unions’ wage-bargaining leverage. Leftist governments, driven by the preferences of their labour constituency, tend to lift entry barriers to FDI in order to promote capital inflows. At the same time, leftist governments may also need to address unions’ concerns about inbound MNCs by tightening post-establishment restrictions on FDI, which impose constraints on the globalized business and operational model of MNCs. We argue that leftist incumbents generally liberalize entry barriers but tighten post-establishment restrictions when the level of labour unionization is high. We found evidence consistent with our argument from country-level and sector-level analysis of FDI restrictions, using a sample from the early 2000s to the mid-2010s of Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.

Social and Political Drivers of the Reorientation of U.S. Trade Policy: The Case of U.S. Withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesse Liss
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Trade Policy ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽  
Stakeholder Groups ◽  
Sociological Explanation

Previous sociological studies demonstrated that U.S. multinational corporations (MNCs) had durable political power to motivate U.S. trade policy. However, why did the United States switch from a “free trade” to an “America First” trade agenda? Economists and political scientists argue that protectionist voters elected the protectionist candidate—Trump. An alternative sociological explanation is that U.S. MNCs lost political power to competing stakeholder groups. The article uses qualitative and quantitative methods to test these competing theories using the case study of the U.S. withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The article argues that both theories are necessary, and neither are sufficient. The United States withdrew from the TPP because increasing negative effects of trade and investment in the United States reshaped trade politics, especially on the republican side; however, power relations between stakeholder groups had to shift as well. U.S. MNCs lost political influence over trade policy to new domestic manufacturing organizations and their networks with labor and fair trade coalitions.

Associations of Physical Activity Policies With Sports Participation in EU Countries: Higher Overall Levels, Smaller Social Inequalities, and More Positive Trends Since 2009

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 464-470
Author(s):  
Michael Mutz ◽  
Marlena van Munster
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
European Union ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
National Level ◽  
Sports Participation ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Policy Measures ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Health Enhancing Physical Activity

Background: European Union member countries agreed on 23 health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA) policy measures in 2013; however, the implementation of these measures varies considerably between countries. Hitherto, no evaluations have yet addressed the efficacy of these policies. Methods: Using a quantitative cross-country comparative approach and based on aggregate Eurobarometer data, this paper presents country-level associations between HEPA measures and the level of sports participation, the gender and educational inequalities of sports participation, and the change in sports participation from 2009 to 2017. Findings: The number of implemented HEPA policy measures is associated with higher levels and smaller social inequalities of sports participation in European Union countries. Moreover, HEPA measures correlate with more positive time trends in sports participation from 2009 to 2017. Conclusion: In addition to the many influencing factors at the individual and social levels, these findings lend support to the notion that sports participation can also be promoted at the national level by implementing specific HEPA policies.

scholarly journals Contesting Accusations of ‘Foreign Interference’: New Agendas for Australian Civil Society

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-84
Author(s):  
James Goodman
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Obligations ◽  
New Rhetoric ◽  
International Trends ◽  
Global Trend ◽  
Legislative Proposals ◽  
Democratic Rights

In 2017 the Australian Government announced a raft of measures designed to combat ‘foreign interference’ in the Australian political system. The measures propose new constraints on civil society advocacy and threaten to seriously curtail democratic rights. They form part of global trend towards the increased regulation of International Non-Government Organisations (INGOs), driven by fears of ‘foreign’ political influence. In response to the shrinking ‘civic space’, NGOs are defining new agendas. Recently in Australia and elsewhere NGO advocates have gained some traction in extending the legitimacy and scope for political advocacy. The new rhetoric of countering ‘foreign interference’ threatens NGO advocacy, but also creates new political possibilities. This article surveys the international trends and Australian contexts; it analyses recent legislative proposals in Australia to combat ‘foreign interference’, and outlines the public debate. The double standard for INGOs and multinational corporations is highlighted as a key theme, and the article ends with a concluding discussion about emerging possibilities for new political obligations for corporations in Australia

scholarly journals Capital Flows and Bank Risk-Taking Behavior: Evidence From Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (s1) ◽  
pp. 33-53
Author(s):  
Bayront Yudit Rumondor ◽  
Pakasa Bary
Keyword(s):  
Risk Taking ◽  
Capital Flows ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Capital Inflows ◽  
Bank Risk ◽  
Portfolio Investment ◽  
Industry Level ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Risk Taking Behavior ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis paper investigates the impact of capital flows on bank risk-taking behavior. It undertakes two levels of empirical estimations, namely (i) single-country industry-level; and (ii) multi-country industry-level estimations, covering emerging market economies. The results suggest that capital inflows, in the form of portfolio investment, is significant in raising risk-taking behavior. Large banks are less aggressive in their risk-taking behavior vis-à-vis smaller banks. Such impact of portfolio investment on risk-taking behavior is also shown in the multi-country level estimates.

scholarly journals Capital Markets, COVID-19 and Policy Measures

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (33) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khalid ElFayoumi ◽  
Martina Hengge
Keyword(s):  
Trade Openness ◽  
Large Wave ◽  
Macroeconomic Conditions ◽  
Portfolio Flows ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Policy Measures ◽  
Asset Classes ◽  
Fiscal And Monetary Policy

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated policy responses triggered a historically large wave of capital reallocation between markets and asset classes. Using high-frequency country-level data, this paper examines if and how the number of COVID cases, the stringency of the lockdown, and the fiscal and monetary policy response determined the dynamics of portfolio flows. Despite more dominant global factors, we find that these domestic factors played an important role, particularly for emerging markets and bond flows, contributing to a global wave of reallocation to safer asset classes. Our results indicate that rising domestic COVID cases had a strong positive effect on portfolio flows, which responded to an increase in financing needs in affected economies. Lockdown and fiscal policy measures also led to an increase in portfolio flows; however, evidence from the CDS market suggests that the increase in flows was dominated by supply forces, reflecting investors' preference for stronger policy responses. In contrast, we find that interest rate cuts led to a decline in portfolio flows as investors searched for higher yield. Finally, we show that COVID policy responses also affected countries' exposure to the global shock and that pre-COVID macroeconomic conditions, such as lower sovereign risk and higher trade openness, contributed to larger flows during the COVID episode.

scholarly journals How Do Firms Use Cash Tax Savings? A Cross-country Analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Higgins Green ◽  
Jon N. Kerr
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Tax Avoidance ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Tax System ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Country Analysis ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
Use Tax ◽  
Tax Savings ◽  
Fund Investment

We examine how firms utilize cash generated via tax avoidance. Understanding how firms use these cash flows is important given the considerable global attention firms' tax avoidance activities have received. Using an international sample, we find that firms are more likely to invest cash tax savings or use them to repurchase shares rather than distribute them in the form of dividends. We find that our results hold for an international sample of domestic-only firms, distinguishing our study from U.S.-only studies, which focus on constraints and distortions of multinational corporations in a worldwide tax system. When partitioning on country-level governance, we find that firms in weak governance countries are more likely to use tax savings to fund investment and pay dividends. Taken together, our results suggest cash tax avoidance is associated with important firm decisions, and these associations vary across countries.

Regional Economic Imbalances

2015 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jitender Bhandari ◽  
Manmohan Rahul ◽  
Shalini Rahul Tiwari
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
Fdi Inflows ◽  
Business Condition ◽  
Policy Measures ◽  
Economic Imbalances ◽  
Fdi Policies ◽  
Geographical Locations

The importance of inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in economic development of India is widely known, analyzed and well accepted in the post-liberalization era. But such inflows have created regional disparities within India owing to their concentration in select geographical locations (states) only. This should be brought into socio-economic discourses and policy formulation and as such, this chapter is an attempt to understand the linkage between FDI and regional economic growth of India. The chapter is divided into three parts.Part-1presents phases of evolution of FDI policies that made an impact on the business condition in India post independence,Part-2presents economic condition of various states and also discusses the FDI inflows to these states since 1991.In Part-3, some policy measures has been suggested to remove this anomaly in our development process so as to make economic development with FDI more stable and inclusive.

scholarly journals Ecology and Happiness: how Air Pollution influences Happiness of the Population

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 55-69
Author(s):  
D. O. Solonina ◽  
K. E. Oshmarina ◽  
I. O. Karev
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
Policy Measures ◽  
Reduce Emissions ◽  
The Government

Recent decades have seen accelerating interest in key factors of happiness driven by patterns of modern life. While more and more often global communities appeal to wider audiences, highlighting the need to commit to achievement of major goals of sustainable development, elimination of negative footprint and raising the bar of living standards, people are paying more attention to the living conditions they find themselves in. The government is focused on life satisfaction to identify major areas for improvement and to develop effective policy measures. This paper aims to estimate how and to which extent unfavorable ecological situation, primarily low air quality, impact population well-being and happiness. Recent studies point out that environmental conditions considerably influence subjective life satisfaction of an individual. On these pages, we test the relation between air pollution and people’s happiness at country level. Our findings show significantly negative impact, which signals the need to reduce emissions and propose solutions to lower the level of air pollution.

scholarly journals Foreign direct investment in Latin America and the Caribbean – the evolution of flows

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 50-63
Author(s):  
S. A. Chirkin
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Direct Investment ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Commodity Prices ◽  
Capital Inflows ◽  
South American ◽  
Fdi Inflows ◽  
Macroeconomic Conditions ◽  
The Caribbean

The article examines the flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LACB) for the period from 2010 to 2020. The sources of capital inflows, their structural components, as well as the distribution of attracted investments by sectors of the recipient countries ' economies are analyzed. Quantitative indicators of FDI inflows and outflows for individual countries and for the region as a whole are presented, highlighting general trends. The trend of a decrease in the volume of attracted FDI in the LACB is emphasized. It is concluded that the decrease in foreign direct investment in South American countries confirms the direct dependence of FDI inflows on macroeconomic conditions and fluctuations in world commodity prices. Changes are noted in the approaches of multinational corporations to invest capital abroad in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in favor of their local or cross-border use. The assessment of the actions of the authorities of the states of the region to attract foreign investment is given. The article examines the situation in the field of unresolved investment disputes involving the countries of the region and its impact on investment attractiveness. The role of Chinese FDI in the region, including its effectiveness in political terms, is considered separately.

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