All developing countries participate, to greater or lesser degrees, in the global competition for foreign investment. But attracting investment is not the only challenge. Harnessing foreign investment to achieve sustainable development is often even more difficult. What is needed to address...

Modern BITs habitually begin with a preamble, whereupon basic concepts such as what constitutes an investment and an investor for the purpose of the treaty are somewhat defined. The effectiveness and manner in which BITs pursue their objectives are remarkably uniformed, thanks to their vigorous...

We analyze the effect of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) on bilateral foreign portfolio investment in equity and debt securities. We find that expropriation risk and the level of a BIT’s investor protection are complementary. Applying a Poisson Pseudo-Maximum-Likelihood model to a panel...

In this book chapter, Mayeda reviews how developing countries can use international investment agreements (IIAs) to promote their sustainable development policies. He first identifies some of the deficiencies of existing models, and then suggests new provisions that developing countries should...