International, bilateral and regional agreements have proliferated in the last ten years to twenty years and new ones are still being negotiated. It is thus virtually certain that for some more time to come international investment disciplines will continue to co-exist side by side with...

At a time of continuing financial crisis in Asia, the question of the appropriate policies for recovery and for future sustainable development is paramount. One area of particular importance is the treatment of foreign investors. Foreign direct investment (FDI) has played a leading role in many...

Evidence of public concerns about globalisation is pervasive -- in the newspapers, on the Internet and more formal discussions of public policy. The business community has been attempting to position itself with respect to these concerns. Indeed, voluntary efforts to define and implement...

Emerging market companies make up 3.8 per cent of the FT500, the 500 largest global traded companies1 and 4.6 per cent of the Dow Jones Global Index of 2,500 companies. OECD statistics show that, while the bulk of international investment flows originate in the OECD, non-OECD countries are...

This paper was prepared in the context of the Investment Committee’s project on International Investor Participation in Infrastructure. It summarises information available in the public domain about investor-state dispute settlements in the infrastructure sectors. The document as a factual...

The general benefits of attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), and the potential of FDI as a tool for regional economic development in particular, are commonly recognised by policy makers and analysts. A recent study prepared under the auspices of the OECD Committee on International...

The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (the “Guidelines”) are one of many intergovernmental instruments that seek to promote economic, social and environmental progress. The OECD Guidelines do this by establishing concepts and principles for responsible business conduct that help...

<OL><LI>The Vietnamese economy was in the doldrums in the 1980s and until a certain progress had been made in the context of Doi Moi there was little incentive for businesses to invest. The following reasons are commonly given for the sluggish economic activity: a lack of appropriate infrastructure...</li></ol>

This paper provides a revised measure of regulatory restrictions on inward foreign direct investment (FDI) for OECD countries and extends the approach to 13 non-member countries. The methodology is largely similar to that adopted in the previous version of the OECD indicator and covers three...

This paper explores the differences, similarities and synergies between voluntary and binding approaches to international rules. Voluntary efforts to ensure that firms adhere to appropriate standards of business conduct have been an important recent development in international business. These...