The Nexus of Public and Private in Foreign Direct Investment: An Analysis of IFC, MIGA, and OPIC

My student note from law school:


Abstract:

This Report provides an exposition of the most recent activities of three of the most important public supporters of foreign direct investment (“FDI”): the International Finance Corporation (“IFC”), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (“MIGA”), and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (“OPIC”), with a focus on their regional and sectoral investment patterns. While not a panacea to the incredible challenges in achieving reductions in poverty, FDI is an essential element in the overall strategy to ensure successful, sustainable development. It is also an element that, especially in the least developed countries (“LDCs”), has suffered from consistent underperformance.

Part I will provide a background, including a sketch of relevant theories underlying the international law of development (“ILD”), examining their origins and content. It will then discuss FDI as a method to achieve sustainable development, and the unique problems of risk and accountability that are associated with it.

Part II will address existing sources of public support for private sector development through FDI. It will discuss the IFC and MIGA, the private sector branches of the World Bank. It will then look at OPIC, a United States government agency that addresses development in a similar manner.

Part III will examine the three agencies’ most recent activities, with a focus on their annual reports. It will provide regional and industry breakdowns of each agency’s portfolio and evaluate the regional and sectoral exposure of the agencies in light of the concerns of the ILD.


Available on Lexis or Westlaw as 32 Fordham Int'l L.J. 1698.

Page proofs available here: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1444193