The environment, which shapes investment agreements in the developing world, is undergoing noteworthy changes. This paper seeks to highlight and explain these changes through a law-and-economics lens and a focus on Latin America. Our analysis is divided into two main sections. The first section...

This paper analyzes the impact of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) on sovereign bond returns of 25 emerging markets from 1993 to 2016. Under a BIT, foreign investors can use an international arbitration scheme to enforce compensation claims against the domestic government in case of direct...

International investment agreements have provoked intense criticism in the policy debate during recent years. Particularly contentious has been their "ISDS" mechanisms, which enable investors to litigate against host countries. This paper examines whether host countries would be better off with...

International investment agreements have become increasingly controversial. The agreements are alleged to be beset with a large number of deficiencies that harm host countries in particular. For instance, they are said to cause "regulatory chill", to distorts investment patterns, and to lead to...

The Lisbon Treaty gives the European Union (EU) institutions new external compe-tences, including foreign direct investment (FDI) inthe common trade policy. Using these competences the European Commission formulated aproposal for aregulation establishing the screening framework for FDI, which...

Investment treaty law reflects a permanent tension between stability and flexibility. Stability nurtures predictability, while flexibility helps legal systems stay in alignment with changing circumstances and evolving needs. This paper establishes an inventory of the mechanisms in investment...

Governments are facing an increasing number of arbitration claims by foreign investors relating to important public policies or seeking substantial damages, and many governments are taking a greater joint interest in how such cases are resolved in investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). This...

We identify strong cross-border institutions as a driver for the globalization of in-novation. Using 67 million patents from over 100 patent offices, we introduce novel measures of innovation diffusion and collaboration. Exploiting staggered bilateral in-vestment treaties as shocks to...

Russia recently joined the growing list of nations that formally control foreign investment in 'strategic' industries. The new law regulating foreign investment generated mixed reviews, ranging from harsh criticism in the media to restrained optimism from investors. In this note, I will argue...

Using event study methodology, we investigate whether bilateral investment protection treaties afford protection to foreign investors. Examining arbitral decisions for firms from six countries shows that firms that received awards from arbitrators gained in market value by as much as 3%. Per...