Krajewski, Markus; Hoffmann, Rhea Tamara --- "Introduction to the Research Handbook on Foreign Direct Investment" [2019] ELECD 766; in Krajewski, Markus; Hoffmann, T. Rhea (eds), "Research Handbook on Foreign Direct Investment" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 1

Book Title: Research Handbook on Foreign Direct Investment

Editor(s): Krajewski, Markus; Hoffmann, T. Rhea

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section Title: Introduction to the Research Handbook on Foreign Direct Investment

Author(s): Krajewski, Markus; Hoffmann, Rhea Tamara

Number of pages: 9

Extract:

Introduction to the Research Handbook on Foreign
Direct Investment
Markus Krajewski and Rhea Tamara Hoffmann



Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is a key driver of international economic integration.
While FDI has always been of significant importance for the growth and development
of national economies, its tremendous global relevance is a more recent phenomenon as
seen by the enormous rise of FDI since the 1990s.1 This broad trend is based on various
economic, political and legal transformations. The liberalisation of capital markets and
the abolishment of foreign exchange restrictions as a result of neoliberal economic
policies in many Western countries in the 1980s as well as the transformation of
centrally planned economies into liberal market systems in many Eastern European and
former Soviet countries led to a sharp increase of opportunities for transnational
commercial activities. In addition, many developing countries changed their national
development policies ­ often under pressure from international financial institutions or
due to severe foreign debt burdens ­ from inward-looking industrialisation strategies to
outward-oriented trade and investment approaches. Economic and political reforms
increased the potential for large merger and acquisition transactions leading to a growth
of multinational enterprises. Finally, countries liberalised their domestic legal systems
by reducing barriers and restrictions in private commercial activities.
In light of these recent developments it should not be surprising that the law
governing FDI only entered centre-stage of the international legal discourse two
decades ago. While the first international investment agreements (IIAs) were signed as
early as 1959, the international law ...