The paper analyzes systematic patterns of investment treaty rule-making using a large sample of bilateral investment treaties (BITs). Focusing on national treatment and transfer provisions, it finds that BITs signed between two developing countries are typically less wide-ranging than...

A serious analysis of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) and their implications for both investment levels and the distribution of the gains from investment is timely. BITs have become the dominant international vehicle through which investment is regulated