Investment Treaties and Industrial Policy: Select Case Studies on State Liability for Efforts to Encourage, Shape and Regulate Economic Activities in Extractive Industries and Infrastructure

Authors

Lise Johnson, Columbia Law School, Columbia Center on Sustainable InvestmentFollow

Document Type

Report/Policy Paper

Publication Date

2-2014

Abstract

This paper, prepared in connection with a February 2014 conference organized by the UN Economic Commission for Africa, discusses some of the implications that investment treaties have for investments in infrastructure and the extractive industries. It focuses on liability for government conduct (1) in connection with tenders and negotiations; (2) when responding to questions regarding the legality of the investment; (3) in using performance requirements to leverage benefits and capture spillovers from the investment; (4) changing the legal framework governing an investment in response to evolving needs, circumstances, and interests; (5) administering the investment; and (6) requesting, and responding to requests for, renegotiation. After describing some investment treaty disputes, this paper concludes by outlining options for addressing and minimizing tensions between investment treaties and government policies and practices in these areas.

Disciplines

Environmental Law | International Law | Labor and Employment Law | Land Use Law | Law | Law and Economics | Natural Resources Law | Oil, Gas, and Mineral Law | Securities Law | Tax Law | Transnational Law

Recommended Citation

Lise Johnson, Investment Treaties and Industrial Policy: Select Case Studies on State Liability for Efforts to Encourage, Shape and Regulate Economic Activities in Extractive Industries and Infrastructure, (2014).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/sustainable_investment_staffpubs/20