Bounded rationality and economic diplomacy : the politics of investment treaties in developing countries / Lauge N. Skovgaard Poulsen (University College London).

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Poulsen, Lauge N. Skovgaard, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Investments, Foreign--Developing countries.

Investments, Foreign.

International economic relations.

Investments, Foreign (International law).

International commercial arbitration.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvi, 247 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Other Title:

Bounded Rationality & Economic Diplomacy

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Modern investment treaties give private arbitrators power to determine whether governments should pay compensation to foreign investors for a wide range of sovereign acts. In recent years, particularly developing countries have incurred significant liabilities from investment treaty arbitration, which begs the question why they signed the treaties in the first place. Through a comprehensive and timely analysis, this book shows that governments in developing countries typically overestimated the economic benefits of investment treaties and practically ignored their risks. Rooted in insights on bounded rationality from behavioural psychology and economics, the analysis highlights how policy-makers often relied on inferential shortcuts when assessing the implications of the treaties, which resulted in systematic deviations from fully rational behaviour. This not only sheds new light on one of the most controversial legal regimes underwriting economic globalization but also provides a novel theoretical account of the often irrational, yet predictable, nature of economic diplomacy.

Contents:

Unanticipated consequences

Bounded rationality and the spread of investment treaties

A difficult beginning

Promoting investment treaties

A less then rational competition

Narcissistic learning

Letting down the guard : a case study

Expanding the bounds of rationality in the investment regime.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-316-43043-X

1-316-43469-9

1-316-43540-7

1-316-43682-9

1-316-43824-4

1-316-43611-X

1-316-43966-6

1-316-40194-4