Robert G. Blanton

What Attracts Foreign Investors? An Examination of Human Rights and Foreign Direct Investment

Though the prospective relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and human rights has long been a prominent issue within the global political economy, the linkage is empirically underdeveloped. Rather, the conventional wisdom that FDI and respect for human rights are inherently contradictory has persisted. Instead, we posit that respect for human rights may encourage FDI. To examine this issue, we assess the direct effects of human rights upon FDI as well as the extent to which human rights indirectly affects FDI through its impact upon human capital. Using a system of simultaneous equations, we find respect for human rights to have a positive impact upon FDI.

Economic globalization and violent civil conflict: Is openness a pathway to peace?

Abstract There has been little systematic assessment of the impact of globalization on armed conflict within states. Drawing from bargaining theories of conflict, we posit that the global marketplace functions as an “audience” that rewards or punishes the policy choices of states. Globalization, which connotes an increased exposure to this marketplace, increases the relevance of the “costs” that this “audience” may impose. These prospective costs thus encourage peace and stability, as states that are integrated into the global economy have more to lose by instigating and sustaining violent conflict within their borders. Employing a two-stage Heckman Model, we assess the impact of various facets of globalization, including access to information, trade, foreign investment and aid flows, on intrastate conflict within the developing countries for 1990–1996.

The Impact of IMF and World Bank Programs on Labor Rights

What effect do International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank programs have on collective labor rights? Labor rights advocacy networks and organized labor groups have long been critical of neoliberal policy prescriptions attached to loans by international financial institutions (IFIs), claiming that they harm the interests of workers. IFIs dispute these claims, noting that they work with relevant labor organizations and that many of their arrangements call for compliance with core labor standards. Yet very little research has been devoted to whether IFI programs affect labor laws and the actual labor practices of recipient countries. We argue that IFI programs undermine collective labor rights. Specifically, recommended policy reforms, as well as the broader signals connoted by participation in the programs, undermine labor organizations and the adoption of protective laws. To substantiate these claims, we use time-series cross-national data for a sample of 123 low- and middle-income countries for the years 1985 to 2002. Our findings suggest that programs from both IFIs are negatively and significantly related to labor rights, including laws designed to guarantee basic collective labor rights as well as the protection of these rights in practice.

Human Rights and Foreign Direct Investment A Two-Stage Analysis

The authors analyze the impact of human rights conditions on foreign direct investment (FDI). Extant literature in this area raises conflicting expectations. Although the “conventional wisdom” posits that repression creates a stable, compliant, and relatively inexpensive host for FDI, there are contending arguments that the protection of human rights reduces risk and contributes toward economic efficiency and effectiveness. Moreover, the burgeoning “spotlight” regime may also punish firms who locate in repressive regimes. Conceptualizing FDI as a two-part process—the initial decision to invest and the subsequent decision of investment amount—the authors assess human rights as a determinant of FDI. Using a two-stage model, they test their hypotheses across developing countries for the years 1980 to 2003. They find that human rights are a significant determinant of the amount of FDI inflows.

Human Rights and Trade: Beyond the “Spotlight”

Human rights concerns figure prominently on the global economic agenda. Yet little empirical analysis has addressed the prospective impact of human rights for global economic interactions. To gain insight into this linkage, we assess the empirical relationship between human rights and an important facet of the global economy, dyadic trade flows. Traditional arguments posit that respect for human rights and trade are uncomfortable bedfellows at best, and that repression may provide a foundation for increased trade activity. We posit that, alternatively, respect for human rights and trade may be a pragmatic coupling. In addition to the normative value of promoting and protecting human rights, there may be a “business case” as there are ways in which respect for human rights may encourage trade. Using a cross-sectional time-series research design, we test the relationship between human rights and trade for the years 1989–2000. Our results show that human rights conditions have a significant influence on dyadic trade.

Structure and behavior in the world trading system

A panoply of visions regarding the economic “new world order” have followed the end of the cold war. While some foresee an increasingly globalized and borderless world, others stress the increasing importance of geography in ordering trade relations, while still others argue that economic competition among major powers will simply replace strategic interests. Such arguments all assess a common issue: the structure of global economic relations. Each argument posits a principle for the ordering of economic relations, whether preferential trading arrangements, geography, or military alliances, and provides implications for the structure. Despite the prevalence of such arguments, empirical assessments of the overall structure of the global trading order are rare, and comparative testing of alternate structures is nonexistent. It is the purpose of this study to fill this analytic gap. As such, this study has two primary goals: 1. To empirically examine the structure of the world economy, as evidenced by tradin...

Economic liberalisation, market institutions and labour rights

What effect do pro-market economic policies have on labour rights? Despite significant debate in policy and academic circles about the consequences of economic liberalisation, little is known about the labour rights effects of pro-market policies. Extant literature has focused only on the possible outcomes of market-liberalising policies, such as trade and investment flows, rather than directly assessing market-friendly policies and institutions. Moreover, this line of research has found mixed results on how these outcomes influence labour conditions. To provide a comprehensive assessment of this linkage, this article combines data on five distinct policy areas associated with economic liberalisation with data on labour rights for the period 1981–2012. The results indicate that pro-market policies – except the ones involving rule of law and secure property rights – undermine labour rights. Thus while there are some positive economic and political outcomes associated with market-supporting policies, economic liberalisation comes at the cost of respect for labour rights.

Is Foreign Direct Investment “Gender Blind”? Women's Rights as a Determinant of US FDI

ABSTRACT The impact of womens rights on a countrys competitiveness in the global economy is a source of contention. While educational opportunities for women, as well as political empowerment, are linked to a variety of positive outcomes, the impact of economic rights is mixed. Toward better understanding these issues, we focus on the role of womens rights in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). Though foreign capital plays a key role in the development strategies of many countries, and many of the growth areas in FDI rely heavily on womens labor, extant literature on the determinants of FDI largely ignores gender. To gain insight into these issues, we examine the impact of womens political, economic, and educational rights across four different types of US FDI into the developing world. We find a mixed relationship between womens rights and FDI that varies across industrial sectors.

Bringing the ‘Community’ Back: Integration, Conflict, and Cooperation

Though a great deal of scholarship has been devoted to the relationship between economic interdependence and conflict — the ‘liberal peace’ — the conceptual and analytic focus of this body of literature remains quite narrow. Seeking to improve upon extant literature, I incorporate Deutschs concept of the ‘security community’ to provide a broader theoretical foundation for the impact of economic interdependence upon interstate relations. Next, I empirically explore where trade, the key independent variable in this body of literature, fits within the broader web of interactions and transactions that contribute towards the integrative process. I then employ events data to assess the impact of integration upon four different measures of interstate interactions — two types of interactions (conflict and cooperation) across two issue areas (economic and military).

Democracy, human rights, and U.S.‐Africa trade

The nexus of economic and political relations is a central issue in international relations, and the influence of political liberalization upon trade ties lies at the center of much liberal theory. However, many facets of the empirical linkage between political liberalization—including democratization and the respect for human rights—and trade remain uninvestigated. Examining the case of U.S.‐Africa trade, this study considers two unexplored facets of these political determinants of trade: (1) the role of human rights conditions, and (2) the robustness of the relationship between democracy, human rights, and trade across a subset of vertical dyads. Using a gravity model to assess trade patterns, we find that neither democracy nor human rights conditions has a significant impact upon U.S. trade to Africa.