TITLE:
Why China Should Regulate Its Overseas Investors’ Environmental Behavior
AUTHORS:
Ciprian N. Radavoi, Yongmin Bian
KEYWORDS:
China’s Overseas Investment; Corporate Social Responsibility; Foreign Direct Investment; Environment Protection
JOURNAL NAME:
Beijing Law Review,
Vol.5 No.1,
March
21,
2014
ABSTRACT: In the
half-century-old debate on disciplining the overseas behavior of transnational
companies in fields like human rights and the environment, emerging economies’
potential as capital exporter states is largely ignored: they are usually
perceived as the problem, rather than a solution provider. When they take
action, usually with the aim of enhancing their reputation globally, they limit
it to voluntary codes and recommendations to their overseas investors, like
China did during the recent years. This article explores, through an
interdisciplinary approach blending public relations, international relations
and socio-doctrinal legal analysis, China’s negative and affirmative
motivations for moving ahead and taking regulatory steps in disciplining its
investors’ behavior. Practical (reputational) and ethical factors are analyzed,
leading to the conclusion that China has strong motivators for taking action in
the actual international context. The country’s policy makers can put them in
balance with the status-quo motivators (mainly, related to economic comparative
advantage) and decide accordingly.