Articles and Book Chapters

Category: Research

• State Liability for Regulatory Change: How International Investment Rules are Overriding Domestic LawLise Johnson and Oleksandr Volkov, Investment Treaty News, IISD, Volume 5, Issue 1, 2014-01-06
• Challenges for China’s Outward FDIKarl P. Sauvant, China Daily, 2013-10-31
• Cameroon Pastoralists Fight for their Way of LifeKaitlin Y. Cordes, Think Africa Press, 2013-09-19
• New UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules on Transparency: Application, Content and Next StepsLise Johnson, Investment Treaty News, IISD, 2013-09-18
• On Solid Ground: Toward Effective Resource-Based DevelopmentLisa Sachs, World Politics Review, 2013-08-06
• Advancing Domestic Development Through Overseas InvestmentKarl P. Sauvant and Victor Z. Chen, East Asia Forum Quarterly, 2013-07
• Great Debate: Mining in Latin AmericaLisa Sachs, The Morningside Post, 2013-04-25
• Foreign Direct Investment by Emerging Economy Multinationals: Coping with the Global CrisisKarl P. Sauvant and Geraldine McAllister, in Marin A. Marinov and Svetla T. Marinova, eds., Emerging Economies and Firms in the Global Crisis (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), pp. 14-46, 2013
• Investor-State Contracts, Host-State “Commitments” and the Myth of Stability in International LawLise Johnson and Oleksandr Volkov, The American Review of International Arbitration, Volume 24, No. 3, pp. 361-415, 2013
• Prospering in the United StatesKarl P. Sauvant, in Ji Tao, Liu Baijia, William Ahearn, Ho Manli and John B. Wood, eds., Chinese Enterprises in the United States 2013 (New York: China Daily USA), pp. 206-207, 2013
• Intra-African Investment – A Pressing IssueLise Johnson, Shawn Pelsinger and Sritha Reddy, Africa Investor, 2012-11
• Inching Towards Consensus: An Update on the UNCITRAL Transparency NegotiationsLise Johnson, Investment Treaty News, IISD, 2012-10-30
• Submissions to UNCITRAL Working Group II on Arbitration and Conciliation 2012-10-12 [+]
  Most investment treaties grant investors the procedural right to bring claims against governments through investor-state arbitration. Under the arbitration rules that commonly govern the proceedings, including the arbitration rules developed by a United Nations body, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), these disputes can remain hidden from public view from their commencement through conclusion. Recognizing the public interest in investor-state arbitration, UNCITRAL has been working since 2010 to develop a legal standard that would ensure transparency in investor-state arbitration. Committed to the belief that transparency in investor-state arbitration is fundamental for accountability, good governance, and the rule of law, elements which are, in turn, crucial for sustainable development, the VCC has been participating in the UNCITRAL process and has drafted various notes and proposals in support of the effort to increase public access to information regarding these disputes. In October 2012, the VCC and partners submitted two documents to country delegations to UNCITRAL: a background note describing and analyzing the key issues involved in UNCITRAL’s work to increase transparency in investor-state arbitrations, and a proposal for specific text that UNCITRAL could adopt. Based on developments in October 2012, in February 2013, the VCC submitted additional comments on UNCITRAL’s efforts to ensure transparency of investor-state arbitration. In July 2013, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) adopted its Rules on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration. The Rules on Transparency offer a carefully negotiated and widely approved template for how to conduct investor-state arbitrations in a way that is consistent with the global recognition of the importance of transparency as a tool for promoting effective democratic participation, good governance, accountability, predictability and the rule of law. This fall, UNCITRAL will prepare a convention to facilitate wide application of the new rules to UNCITRAL and non-UNCITRAL arbitrations under existing and future treaties. The VCC, together with the Center for International Environmental Law and International Institute for Sustainable Development, has prepared a paper describing the new Rules on Transparency and UNCITRAL’s next steps.
• Devil in the Bidding Detail, op. ed.Lisa Sachs, Jacky Mandelbaum and Perrine Toledano, The Indian Express, 2012-09-28
• Investment Promotion Agencies and Sustainable FDI: Moving toward the Fourth Generation of Investment Promotion 2012-06-25 [+]
  The Vale Columbia Center and The World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) conducted a survey of investment promotion agencies (IPAs) that are members of WAIPA on FDI and sustainable development in April and May 2010. The report based on the findings, Investment Promotion Agencies and Sustainable FDI: Moving toward the Fourth Generation of Investment Promotion, benchmarks the responses of IPAs regarding sustainable FDI and its four dimensions (economic development, environmental sustainability, social development, governance) and finds, among other things, that these are unevenly addressed by investment promotion strategies and investment incentives. The report also draws attention to the desirability of attracting sustainable FDI, rather than focusing on volume of investment alone.
• Equal Treatment for Outward Investors, op. ed.Karl P. Sauvant, Project Syndicate, 2012-06-12
• Openness in Extraction, op. ed.Lisa Sachs and Shefa Siegel, Project Syndicate, 2012-06-01
• Addressing Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Through Insurance for Overseas Investments: The example of the U.S. Overseas Private Investment CorporationLise Johnson, IISD, 2012-05
• New kid on the block learning the rulesKarl P. Sauvant, East Asia Forum Quarterly, 2012-04
• Negotiations on the Bilateral Investment Treaty Between China and the USA: Consensus, Controversies and Prospect (in Chinese)Karl P. Sauvant and Chen Huiping, Journal of International Economic Law, Volume 19, No. 4, 2012
• The Source of All AvariceShefa Siegel, review of Consuming the Congo: War and Conflict Minerals in the World’s Deadliest Place, Haaretz, 2011-12
• China, Inc. goes global, op. ed.Karl P. Sauvant, Project Syndicate, 2011-11-30 [+]
  This op. ed. was also published in The Korea Times (South Korea), South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), Khaleej Times (UAE), Lianhe Zaobao (Singapore), The Straits Times (Singapore), La Vanguardia (Spain), Jordan Times (Jordan), Bangkok Post (Thailand), China National News (China), Columbia Business School-Chazen Global Insights (USA), Caijing Magazine (China), Politiken (Denmark), Business Intelligence (Macau), Taipei Times (Taiwan), The Georgian Times (Georgia), Wyborcza (Poland), Al Watan Daily (Kuwait), Times of Oman (Oman), Al Arab (Qatar), Les Echos (Mali/France).
• Is the United States ready for FDI from China?Karl P. Sauvant, China Daily insert in The New York Times, 2011-11-10 [+]
  (Also published in a China Daily insert in The Wall Street Journal and the China Daily Special WTO Anniversary Edition).
• You don’t have to be big to be a multinationalKarl P. Sauvant, Letter to the Editor, Financial Times, 2011-08-25
• Overcoming liability of foreignness, op. ed.Karl P. Sauvant, China Daily, 2011-05-23
• Memo to the SEC on the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection ActSusan Maples, 2011-03-02 [+]
  The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has been working to write rules for the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act for several months now. Of particular interest to the VCC is section 1504, which would require oil, gas and mining companies to report payments made to governments for those natural resources. The law takes its inspiration from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). Resource-rich countries that voluntarily adopt the EITI require both the corporate disclosure that Dodd Frank will require as well as government disclosure of revenues received from companies. As a part of the rule-making process, the SEC invited the public to provide comments and research to assist with implementation of section 1504 (among others). The VCC submitted research showing that this proposed law would not violate foreign confidentiality laws or cause companies to violate confidentiality clauses in their contracts with governments. The submission emphasized that, if anything, the opposite is true: countries are moving towards requiring these disclosures, not vice versa.
• China: Inward and Outward Foreign Direct InvestmentKarl P. Sauvant, in Transnational Corporations Review, Volume 3, No. 1, 2011-03
• Le Defi Chinois, op. ed.Karl P. Sauvant and Ken Davies, Project Syndicate, 2010-12-02 [+]
  This article was reprinted in the following publications: Biencar Hebdo (Cameroon); Ethio-Chamber (Ethiopia); Les Echos (Mali); Le Quotidien de Nouakchott (Mauritania); The New Times (Rwanda); The Shanghai Daily (China); Jakarta Post (Indonesia); The Japan Times (Japan); Business World (Phillipines); Taipei Times (Taiwan); Wyborcza (Poland); Goodwill (Slovakia); Valor (Brazil); Al Eqtisadiah (Saudi Arabia); Borsen (Denmark); Le Nouvel Economiste (France); II sole – 24 Ore (Italy); The Malta Independent (Malta); L’Agefi (Switzerland).
• Investment Promotion Agencies and Sustainable FDI: Moving toward the Fourth Generation of Investment Promotion 2010-06-25 [+]
  The Vale Columbia Center and The World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) conducted a survey of investment promotion agencies (IPAs) that are members of WAIPA on FDI and sustainable development in April and May 2010. The report based on the findings, Investment Promotion Agencies and Sustainable FDI: Moving toward the Fourth Generation of Investment Promotion, benchmarks the responses of IPAs regarding sustainable FDI and its four dimensions (economic development, environmental sustainability, social development, governance) and finds, among other things, that these are unevenly addressed by investment promotion strategies and investment incentives. The report also draws attention to the desirability of attracting sustainable FDI, rather than focusing on volume of investment alone.
• FDI Protectionism Is on the RiseKarl P. Sauvant, Policy Research Working Paper 5052 (The World Bank), 2009-09 [+]
  Shorter versions of this paper were published in Evenett et al. (eds), “The fateful allure of protectionism: Taking stock for the G8,” The World Bank and Center for Economic Policy Research (2009), pp. 53-56, available here, and in the World Bank Research Digest (fall 2009), available here.
• Bilateral investment treaties and FDI flowsLisa E. Sachs, WAIPA Newsletter, Issue 5, Quarter 2, 2009
• The rise of FDI protectionismKarl P. Sauvant, in A New Investment Paradigm, OCO Insight (OCO Global, 2008/2009), 2009
• Pondering FDI in Crisis: investment could drop or it just might rise, op. ed.Karl P. Sauvant, Shanghai Daily, 2008-11-28
• Emerging markets’ FDI strikes sensitive nerve, op. ed.Karl P. Sauvant, Shanghai Daily, 2008-10-23
• Des contrats plus justes pour les pays pauvres, op. ed.Karl P. Sauvant, Le Monde (France), 2008 [+]
  This op. ed. (published in English as “Fair Contracts for Poor Countries”) also appeared in Les Echos (Mali), Standard Times (Sierra Leone), The Independent (Bangladesh), Modern Weekly (China), The Korea Times (Republic of Korea), The Edge (Malaysia), Daily Times (Pakistan), Business World (Philippines), Taipei Times (Taiwan Province of China), I Naftemporiki (Greece), The Malta Independent (Malta), Jornal De Negocios (Portugal), Reforma (Mexico), El Nuevo Diario (Nicaragua), La Prensa (Panama), Al Tijaria (Bahrain), Al-Sabah Al-Jadeed (Iraq), Al Eqtisadiah (Saudi Arabia), Yemen Times (Yemen), and Diario Las Americas (USA).
• Chinese Direct Investment in the United States– The Challenges AheadKarl P. Sauvant and Clarence Kwan (2008), Location USA, pp. 39-46, 2008 [+]
  This article is based on a longer working paper of the same name, published by the U.S. Chinese Services Group of Deloitte LLP and the Vale Columbia Center. (download)
• Outward FDI from Emerging Markets: Some Policy IssuesKarl P. Sauvant, in John H. Dunning and Philipe Gugler, Foreign Direct Investment, Location and Competitiveness: Progress in International Business Research, volume 2 (Oxford: Elsevier Ltd), pp. 279-284, 2008
• Chávez strategy points to emerging nation rethink on approach to FDIKarl P. Sauvant, letter to the editor, Financial Times, 2007-01-15
• Africa: the FDI opportunities are localKarl P. Sauvant, International Trade Forum (online), 2007-01
• A backlash against foreign direct investment?Karl P. Sauvant, in World Investment Prospects to 2010: Boom or Backlash? (London, UK: The Economist Intelligence Unit Ltd.), pp 71-77, 2006
• Reservoirs of the futureKarl P. Sauvant, in Samuel Passow and Magnus Runnbeck (eds.), What’s Next? Strategic Views on Foreign Direct Investment (Jönköping, Sweden: Invest in Sweden Agency), pp. 90-97, 2005