Rethinking the Hegemonic Notion of Foreign Investment: Examining the Empirical Evidence of the International Investment System in the Global South

18 Pages Posted: 22 Jan 2020

See all articles by Federico Suarez

Federico Suarez

Universidad Externado de Colombia

Date Written: January 20, 2020

Abstract

The international investment regime is conceived to guarantee investment gains and profits, either economically or legally. The characteristics of this regime denote that the clauses of its core provisions are crafted in order to protect a broader conception of private property rights of foreign investors that prevail over the prerogatives of the State to conduct foreign investment according to public interests in the field of human rights, environmental law, administrative law, access to public services or economic sovereignty, either at the national or regional level. These choices are chilled by the legal, political and economic consequences that may harm the substantive rights of the international investor, who could trigger a billion dollar lawsuit under the ISDS claim for compensation. Examining the empirical evidence that the investment arbitration regime has produced after several years of application, particularly in the Global South, it can be easily concluded that those outcomes are absolutely in favour of high income countries, extra large companies, and wealthy individuals.

Keywords: International investment law, neoliberalism, corruption, tax havens

Suggested Citation

Suarez, Federico, Rethinking the Hegemonic Notion of Foreign Investment: Examining the Empirical Evidence of the International Investment System in the Global South (January 20, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3522479 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3522479

Federico Suarez (Contact Author)

Universidad Externado de Colombia ( email )

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