Abstract

What are the consequences of the rise of foreign state-led investment for international politics? Existing research oscillates between a ‘geopolitical’ and a ‘commercial’ logic driving this type of investment and remains inconclusive about its wider international reverberations. In this paper, I suggest going beyond this dichotomy by analyzing its systemic consequences. To do so, I conceptually delineate a geoeconomic approach that emphasizes the globalized nature of foreign state investment. I argue that foreign state investment creates system-level patterns, which can be studied by observing similar sectoral and geographic investment behavior. I map this phenomenon globally for the first time, drawing on the largest dataset on foreign state investment. Empirically, I show how foreign state investment is highly concentrated in Europe, North America and East Asia, and is owned by a handful of dominant states. It is especially European geo-industrial clusters that represent the hotspots of such concentration. The findings also suggest that three global industries – energy production, high-tech manufacturing, and transportation and logistics – form the key areas for current and future state-led investment concentration. With these contributions, the paper illuminates the increasing presence of states as owners in the global political economy, and facilitates its study as a geoeconomic phenomenon.

摘要

外国主导的投资兴起对国际政治有何影响？现有研究在推动此类投资的“地缘政治”和“商业”逻辑之间摇摆不定，并且对其更广泛的国际反响仍无定论。在本文中，我建议通过分析其系统性后果来超越这种二分法。为此，我在概念上描绘了一种强调外国投资全球化性质的地缘经济方法。我认为，外国国家投资创造了系统层面的模式，可以通过观察类似的部门和地域投资行为来研究这种模式。我利用最大的外国投资数据集，首次在全球范围内描绘了这一现象。从经验上讲，我展示了外国投资是如何高度集中在欧洲的，北美和东亚，并由少数占主导地位的国家拥有。尤其是欧洲地缘产业集群代表了这种集中的热点。调查结果还表明，三个全球行业——能源生产、高科技制造以及运输和物流——构成了当前和未来国家主导投资集中的关键领域。有了这些贡献，本文阐明了国家作为所有者在全球政治经济中的存在越来越多，并促进了将其作为地缘经济现象进行研究。以及交通和物流——构成当前和未来国家主导投资集中的重点领域。有了这些贡献，本文阐明了国家作为所有者在全球政治经济中的存在越来越多，并促进了将其作为地缘经济现象进行研究。以及交通和物流——构成当前和未来国家主导投资集中的重点领域。有了这些贡献，本文阐明了国家作为所有者在全球政治经济中的存在越来越多，并促进了将其作为地缘经济现象进行研究。