Partisan Investment in the Global Economy Why the Left Loves Foreign Direct Investment and FDI Loves the Left

Pinto develops a partisan theory of foreign direct investment (FDI) arguing that left-wing governments choose policies that allow easier entry by foreign investors more than right-wing governments, and that foreign investors prefer to invest in countries governed by the left. To reach this determination, the book derives the conditions under which investment flows should be expected to affect the relative demand for the services supplied by economic actors in host countries. Based on these expected distributive consequences, a political economy model of the regulation of FDI and changes in investment performance within countries and over time is developed. The theory is tested using both cross-national statistical analysis and two case studies exploring the development of the foreign investment regimes and their performance over the past century in Argentina and South Korea.

1. FDI and coalitions; 2. The politics of investment; 3. Partisanship and commitment; 4. Cross-country analysis; 5. FDI in Argentina; 6. Business influence and FDI; 7. Conclusion.

Pablo M. Pinto is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Columbia University. His work has been published or is forthcoming in International Organization, the Review of International Political Economy, State Politics and Policy Quarterly, Economics and Politics and Comparative Political Studies. In addition to this book, he is co-author of Politics and Foreign Direct Investment and of numerous book chapters. He received his PhD from the University of California, San Diego.