Host Government Research Articles

"There's so much more to that sinking island!"-Restorying migration from Kiribati and Tuvalu to Aotearoa New Zealand.

Many Pacific people are considering cross-border mobility in response to the climate crisis, despite exclusion from international protection frameworks. The 'Migration with dignity' concept facilitates immigration within existing laws but without host government support. Through the metaphor of Pacific navigation, we explore the role of dignity in the lives of I-Kiribati and Tuvaluans in Aotearoa New Zealand. Combining talanoa (pacific research method) with I-Kiribati and Tuvaluan community members, alongside critical community psychology and thematic analysis, we depict climate mobility as a wa or vaka moana (ocean-going canoes) journey. Participants are expert navigators, navigating immigration obstacles to (re)grow their roots in Aotearoa New Zealand beforecharting a course for future generations to thrive. They draw strength from culture and community to overcome the adversity of precarious living and visa non-recognition. Reconceptualising climate mobility through a Pacific lens imagines both dignity and cultural preservation as possible, despite the indignities and limitations of socio-political systems and protections for climate migrants.

Environmental Awareness, Oligopolistic Competition, and Foreign Direct Investment

In most developing countries, local companies have more expensive polluting production technology than those in developed countries. On the other hand, there is a growing concern to produce and consume ecological goods in the world. Based on this reality, and using environmental awareness as public policy, this article uses a theoretical model that determines the level of environmental awareness that a government receiving foreign investment is willing to promote, taking into account oligopolistic competition between foreign and local companies in the country. The optimal environmental awareness policy considers the impact of this policy on local investment, the benefit of the consumer, foreign investment flows, and the disutility of the contamination of polluting goods in the population. The optimal level of environmental awareness is found to depend on the degree of disutility of pollution and the introjection of politics induced by the host government.

Friends, foes, or “frenemies”: Intercountry relations and cross‐border acquisitions

AbstractResearch SummaryWe draw on the political institutions approach and relational embeddedness perspective to advance a relational theory of policy risk. We argue that policy risk negatively affects acquisition completion, but the strength of the effect is dependent on home‐host country relations. Home‐host country relations underpin host governments' motivation to commit to policies and influence foreign acquirers' perceptions of the credibility of such commitments. Using longitudinal event data on intercountry interactions, we measure the valence and strength of home‐host country relations and examine the relationship between policy risk and cross‐border acquisition (CBA) completion under cooperative, conflictive, and ambivalent relations. In a sample of 26,124 CBAs, we find that the relationship is negative and strong under conflictive relations, weaker under cooperative relations, and weakest under ambivalent relations.Managerial SummaryWe examine whether acquirers can use intercountry relations to infer and predict host governments' credibility of commitment to policies and evaluate the risk of arbitrary or opportunistic policy changes. Results show that policy risk decreases the likelihood of CBA completion, but the effect depends on home‐host country relations. The negative effect of policy risk is strongest under conflictive intercountry relations, weaker under cooperative relations, and weakest under ambivalent relations. Executives' evaluations of home‐host country relations in high policy risk environments can help assess the risk associated with completing CBAs and develop appropriate strategies to address potential issues.

Offshoring motivations driven by sustainability factors

This research analyzes firms' motivations for offshoring by investigating the influence of sustainability and using a dataset of 172 European firms. Therefore, it bridges the fields of offshoring strategies and sustainability to supply new insights to firms and policy makers on the impact of sustainability on offshoring decisions. Our findings reveal that firms' sustainable initiatives demotivate offshoring in most cases, independent of their related motivations to delocalize. Corporate Social Responsibility performance discourage offshoring associated with labor cost benefits, energy savings, and the host governments' sustainable programs. Similarly, domestic governments' sustainable initiatives can support firms that renounce to the possible gains given by low labor and energy costs as well as suppliers' proximity and technological progress. Finally, suppliers' sustainable initiatives push firms to offshore due to the domestic countries’ disadvantageous taxation and production systems.

Theoretical Implications of the Sources of Power for MNEs and Host Governments

A long research tradition considers the role of “power” in the relationship between multinational corporations (MNC) and host country governments. However, major theories emphasize different sources of power, leaving open room for misinterpretation or discounting the role of power in the relationship. We outline the sources of power applied when studying the MNC-host government relationship and use examples, Intel’s investment in Costa Rica and Huawei’s relationship with governments in the US and Europe, to illustrate how the sources of power differ, sometimes radically, and how this translates into actions and reactions by MNCs and host governments. Drawing upon these insights, we propose a dyad-level framework for understanding power, which enables cross-theoretical comparisons, higher breadth and depth of consideration, and offers scholars and managers a deeper understanding of the power relationship between MNCs and host governments.

Self-Regulation with Conflicting Stakeholders

We study self-regulation, a non-market strategy firms use to reduce pressure from activists, in the context of the payment transparency movement in extractive industries. This movement seeks to reduce corruption by promoting disclosure of oil companies’ payments to host governments but often generates a tension between activists that desire transparency and host governments that oppose it. We show that firms are more likely to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a multi-stakeholder initiative promoting transparency, if they invest in countries where conflict between activists and governments is less intense and if they have stronger bargaining power. We find that when legislatures mandated transparency, EITI-member firms became more competitive. We also find local perceptions of corruption fell in areas close to EITI-member firms’ operations.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI ) and Protecting Bangladeshi Worker's Human Rights

It is the constitutional rights for every citizen to enjoy fundamental human rights. Despite ILO conventions, host countries like Bangladesh have failed to protect workers' human rights. In the name of business, the human rights of workers have been violated significantly in the poor host states. There are ample evidences, which show that their human rights were neglected by Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) or even by the host government. The objective of this study is to examine all the national laws and policies, FDI legislation, and BITs of Bangladesh that apply to labors to assess their adequacy, strength, weaknesses, and gaps in protecting the human rights of workers.

The limits of global property rights: Quasi-Experimental evidence from the Energy Charter Treaty

The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is the primary international mechanism protecting the property rights of foreign energy investors. By giving firms the ability to sue host governments in neutral venues, the hope was that expropriation risks would reduce and thereby spur investment. Has the ECT lived up to these aims? We analyze how exogenous changes to the property rights provided to Russian firms under the Energy Charter Treaty impact political risk. We find no evidence that the increases or decreases to rights under the investment regime altered firm value. The results indicate that the ECT has limited effects on an investment climate, at least in the eyes of financial markets. The findings suggest that critics of the ECT are right to call for reforming the institution as it may be hampering a green energy transition without adequately providing the promised economic returns. More theoretically, the paper contributes to debates on the relationship between state power and international environmental institutions, and highlights the importance of offshore finance for altering business-government relations in the energy sector.

What is the Problem with Stabilization Clauses in Petroleum Agreements?

International Oil Companies (IOCs) continue to invest in countries which do not have stabilization clauses. Why is this so? What is the essence of these clauses? One of the curiosities of stabilization clauses in petroleum agreements, is that most developed countries will not offer them to investors. So, why do developing countries with stable political, fiscal and regulatory climate offer them? Additionally, history shows that these stabilization clauses have not deterred host governments from expropriating petroleum investments. While governments may be able to make commitments of their own, as a matter of national sovereignty they may not be able to bind the legislative competence of the State into the future. These concerns are the main driver behind this article, which is influenced by the various questions asked by policymakers in the Global South on the importance of stabilization clauses for the sustainable development and management of natural resources.
 Keywords: Stabilization; sustainable development; natural resources; oil and gas

The Limits of Primordial Affinity to Ethnic Trust: The Social Origins of Ethnic Trust among North Korean Refugees in London

AbstractThe creation of trusting relationships with coethnics is identified as a step towards refugee integration. However, coethnic trust has been considered primordial, and empirical explorations on restoring refugees’ capacities to trust their coethnics have remained limited. This study addresses the gap by considering in-group trust decisions as a situational product shaped by contextual conditions using social network data on North Korean refugees settled in London. The network analyses test the effects of contextual arrangements, while accounting for network-level covariates affecting trust decisions. Findings demonstrate that social conditions within the host country support the emergence of trust ties despite the unfavourable pre-migration experiences of refugees. More specifically, a sense of belonging in the host society and placing trust in host government are associated with trusting impulse towards coethnics. The implications from the findings suggest that features of the post-migration environment signal trustworthiness of interactional partners, including coethnics.

The Three Parties in the Race to the Bottom: Host Governments, Home Governments and Multinational Companies

Most studies of tax competition and the race to the bottom focus on potential host countries competing for mobile capital, neglecting the role of corporate tax planning and of home governments that facilitate this planning. This neglect in part reflects the narrow view frequently taken of the policy instruments that countries have available in tax competition. For example, hightax host governments can permit income to be shifted out to tax havens as a way of attracting mobile companies. Home countries will cooperate in this shift if they think the benefit to their companies is greater than any reduction in the domestic tax base. We use various types of U.S. data, including firm level tax files, to identify the role of the three parties (host governments, home governments and multinational companies) in the evolution of tax burdens on U.S. companies abroad from 1992 to 2002. This period is of particular interest because the United States introduced regulations in 1997 that greatly simplified the use of more aggressive tax planning techniques.The evidence indicates that from 1992 to 1998 the decline in effective tax rates on U.S. companies was driven largely by host governments defending their market share. But after 1998, tax avoidance behavior seems much more important. Effective tax rates on U.S. companies had a much weaker link with local statutory tax rates. Furthermore, the disparity in the reported profitability of subsidiaries in high-tax and low-tax jurisdictions grew substantially.After 1997, there was a very large growth in intercompany payments and a parallel growth of holding company income. We attempt to estimate how much of these payments were deductible in the host country, and conclude that by 2002 the companies were saving about $7.0 billion per year by using the more aggressive planning strategies. This amounts to about 4% of foreign direct investment income and about 15% of their foreign tax burden.

Sustainable supply chain finance through digital platforms: a pathway to green entrepreneurship

This paper studies the green new product development (GNPD) problem of a risk-averse capital constrained supply chain (SC). The SC is managed by an SME entrepreneur, seeking financial support from a multi-sided FinTech platform (MSP) to develop a portfolio of green and non-green products. The MSP offers the SC a combination of equity financing (EF) and debt financing (DF) facilities and must decide on the interest rate of its DF facility. Using a benchmark model, we first characterize the SC’s production and the MSP’s financing decisions under a deregulated scenario. Focusing on an alternative case with government intervention (i.e., hybrid environmental-green entrepreneurship policy), we next develop a three-level game theoretical model and sequentially characterize the decision-making behavior of government, MSP, and SC. The model outcomes are analyzed by considering the policy approach (i.e., economic influence vs. social welfare) and the platform’s risk attitude. The results reveal that, when coupled with an appropriate government intervention policy, a regulated scenario leads to a better outcome, particularly when the MSP is risk-neutral and strikes a right balance between the EF and DF. The win–win situation may not be realized when the MSP is risk-averse and the host government is merely focused on its economic influence. To successfully promote sustainable supply chain finance (SSCF) through digital platforms, policy makers are urged to leverage their legislative power and prioritize green entrepreneurship and social welfare over their financial maximization agenda.

Criteria for Locating Temporary Shelters for Refugees of Conflicts: A Systematic Review.

Background:We aimed to identify the indicators and criteria to locate temporary shelters for conflict refugees.Methods:This systematic review evaluated the full-text of the related articles in international electronic databases, such as Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, Cochran, and Google Scholar from the beginning and without time limit to 1 June 2019. In addition, this search was based on a strategy developed by the researchers. The studies were selected regardless of their methods and two data extraction forms were used to extract the most relevant and important information.Results:Among 10124 cases of primary documents, 38 articles were selected, and 25 articles were analyzed in full-text. Totally, 45 indicators were identified and classified into two main categories of physical and non-physical indicators with six subcategories of land ownership, host government, access to infrastructures, site safety, land characteristics, and economic, social, and cultural considerations.Conclusion:The selection of temporary shelters for the conflict refugees requires the identification of all the specific influential factors not properly addressed. The final indicators obtained in our review could be incorporated into the development of the models required in this regard.

The Implementation Strategy of A4P(A4P+) and the Implications for Korean Military’s Participation in UN PKOs

Purpose: The United Nations recently announced A4P+, a priority for the implementation of A4P following A4P to emphasize the qualitative improvement of peacekeeping operations and the sharing of responsibilities among related actors. In this paper, I will consider the A4P+ priorities to be implemented for UN peacekeeping operations between 2021-2023 and draw implications for the Korean military deployment policy in peacekeeping. Method: To this end, Literature analysis centered on official documents published by the United Nations relat-ed to A4P and A4P+, was conducted, and military-related data were referenced among various data on the United Nations web page. Results: A4P and A4P+ presented areas and tasks to be implemented in peacekeeping operations by the UN, member states, regional organizations, and host governments related to the deployment of UN personnel. Up-holding A4P and A4P+ are WPS(Women, Peace, and Security) and data-driven and advanced technologies. All stakeholders in Peacekeeping must do their commitments in eight areas of A4P and prepare for the materialization of A4P through A4P+ priorities based on the two. Member states providing military and police are responsi-ble for providing their competent peacekeepers to field missions for their safety and security and mandate implementation. Peacekeeping operations emphasize high-tech and information collection systems for effectiveness and efficiency of peacekeeping, TCC/PCC should read and reflect the changes required from the UN into their deployment policy. Conclusion: Korea should do its commitment pledged to the UN to contribute to successful peacekeeping oper-ations. First, Korea shall contemplate its deployment policy, focusing on how and what it can implement A4P+ within a limited period. Second, Korea needs to re-consider the current participation of military and equipment. Qualitative expansion in Korea’s participation rather than quantitative one should be prioritized first.

Why Do Some Multinational Firms Respond Better Than Others to the Hostility of Host Governments? Proximal Embedding and the Side Effects of Local Partnerships

AbstractUsing a multiple‐case study of alleged expropriations reported before the World Bank, we examine how multinational companies (MNC) react to the escalating hostility of host governments. Our study reveals how different choices regarding the interaction with local nonmarket stakeholders – which we refer to as proximal vs. mediated embedding – shape how managers respond to these disputes by affecting their ability to collect, process and interpret information, and to act upon it in a way that effectively mobilizes local and international support. In contrast to the prevailing view that local partners in international joint ventures shelter MNCs from abuse from political authorities, our findings show that primary reliance on local partners to manage the local nonmarket environment can actually reinforce a liability of outsidership and even create a ‘liability of insidership’, to the extent that relying on local partners prevents the MNC from establishing quality connections with a broad range of nonmarket stakeholders, reducing its alertness and responsiveness to hostile acts from host governments.

FDI propensity and geo-cultural interaction in former Yugoslavia: pairwise analysis of origin and destination countries

This research examines FDI location choice across the successor states of Yugoslavia roughly 25 years after dissolution. Based upon 12,245 pairwise observations from 2005 to 2016, the paper employs logit models to estimate empirically the impact of geographic distance, cultural similarity, and geo-cultural interaction on FDI propensity. The contributions are twofold. First, while geographic distance and culture similarity are typically modeled as independent FDI determinants, their interaction is also examined here. Second, the paper contributes to the sparse scholarship on FDI in this complex European region, using binary-choice models to highlight its linkages to the global economy. The findings suggest that—in addition to mainstream economic, regulatory, and political factors—a tradeoff exists between distance and culture in attracting FDI. Host governments seeking FDI that promotes economic growth might increase the likelihood of FDI by targeting geographically-proximate partners that are culturally similar. The role of geographic distance in reducing FDI propensity gives way to other enabling variables beyond the distance of 1800 km.

Introducing the Peacekeeping Mandates (PEMA) Dataset

Research on UN peacekeeping operations has established that operations' size and composition affect peacekeeping success. However, we lack systematic data for evaluating whether variation in tasks assigned to UN peacekeeping mandates matters and what explains different configurations of mandated tasks in the first place. Drawing on UN Security Council resolutions that establish, extend, or revise mandates of 27 UN peacekeeping operations in Africa in the 1991–2017 period, the Peacekeeping Mandates (PEMA) dataset fills this gap. It records 41 distinct tasks, ranging from disarmament to reconciliation and electoral support. For each task, the PEMA dataset also distinguishes between three modalities of engagement (monitoring, assisting, and securing) and whether the task is requested or merely encouraged. To illustrate the usefulness of our data, we re-examine Hultman, Kathman, and Shannon’s (2013) analysis of operations’ ability to protect civilians. Our results show that host governments and rebel groups respond differently to civilian protection mandates.

Unwanted participation? Defector public diplomacy in South Korea

ABSTRACT The controversy surrounding defector balloon launches into North Korea is often viewed as a bizarre example of Cold War legacies on the Korean peninsula. However, it is also a unique case study of non-state public diplomacy because these groups are attempting to engage in cross-border communication against the wishes of their host government. This article argues that South Korea’s unique interpretation of public diplomacy as a participatory activity has proven vulnerable to non-state organisations with divergent views of the national interest, which has resulted in two different types of public diplomacy being directed at North Korea. Subsequent attempts by the South Korean government to control the dissonant public diplomacy of non-state groups resulted in reputational costs for both sides and ultimately failed to prevent defectors from advancing their claim to a human right to communicate across national borders. Even though this case study broadly supports a polylateral interpretation of public diplomacy, it cautions that human rights discourses may obscure the fact that the traditional diplomatic system was designed to mitigate many of the risks associated with non-state diplomatic actors. Therefore, this paper suggests the need for more discussion about the consequences of a right to communicate across national borders.

The osce in Central Asia: Engagement, Presence, Problems

Abstract Central Asia is a region where the osce has been engaged for more than two decades, including with missions and field presences in all five participating states. This engagement reflects the hope that these countries will gradually align themselves with the values, principles and norms of the organization. The region, however, presents the following challenges. First, Central Asian states strictly adhere to state sovereignty and want to constrain the osce’s involvement in domestic affairs. Second, these states prioritize the organization’s economic and ecological dimension, and want to reduce the importance of its human rights dimension. Finally, the activity programmes of the remaining osce field presences in the region are subject to the approval of host governments.

The illogic of plausible deniability: why proxy conflict in cyberspace may no longer pay

Abstract Cyber proxies—whether mercenaries, patriotic zealots, pranksters, or simply allies of convenience—are thought to be widespread. By outsourcing to proxies, this logic goes, a host government can plausibly deny its involvement in operations that advance its military and foreign policy aims. This presents central challenge to empirical researchers. If the value of proxies derives from their deniability, this same quality should mean that implausibly deniable types—the types sponsors supposedly wish to avoid—receive disproportionate attention in data and discourse. Accordingly, proxy activity appears to have flagged across several widely used datasets, depending on how the data are parsed. Do proxies still pay? A formal model is used to hypothesize about how new norms of attribution (specifically, the willingness of victims to make accusations on the basis of circumstantial evidence) can encourage capable states to insource more than they outsource. In the model, victims have the power to decide whether denials are plausible. “Usual suspects” who learn that they will take the heat regardless have fewer incentives to rely on proxies. Empirical evidence on insourcing patterns offers backdoor support for this proposition. The findings should decrease our confidence in plausible deniability as a logic for why states outsource to proxies. The paper joins an emerging body of research that has questioned the role of plausible deniability in covert action, including cyber conflict.