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...

Multinational companies (MNCs) investing abroad have been using Dutch bilateral investment treaties (BITs) to sue host country governments for over 100 billion dollars for alleged damages to the profitability of their investments. This is one of the outcomes of new SOMO research into the unknown...

In light of the massive volume of Taiwanese investment in China, and the recently opened access of Chinese investment in Taiwan, Article 5 of the recently concluded Economic Corporation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between Taiwan and China specifically points out the necessity of a bilateral...

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

It may appear all too obvious that the extent to which foreign direct investment (FDI) is attracted by bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and regional trade agreements (RTAs) depends on the strength of key investment provisions. Still, BITs and RTAs have typically been treated as black boxes...

The growing importance of foreign direct investment (FDI) to U.S.-China relations was highlighted when the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) in 2008 mandated the negotiations of a bilateral investment treaty (BIT). Intended to further liberalizing investment policies of either...

The backlash against the expansive interpretation of key disciplines of international investment law by arbitral tribunals has prompted a host of strategies, implemented mostly by developing countries, aimed at walking away from the system. These range from denouncing the ICSID Convention and...

The most remarkable evolution in the field of international investment law is undoubtedly the massive proliferation of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) and Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs), either in the form of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) of Custom Unions (CUs). PTAs increasingly, as...

This article considers the national treatment standard in international investment agreements as implemented by emerging market countries. It briefly explains the nature and purpose of the standard and how it has been examined by international investment tribunals. Specific examples of national...