Sub-national Economies and Global Capitalism: A Comparative Analysis of Regional Governance of FDI

Variegated forms of corporate capture: The state, MNCs, and the dark side of strategic coupling

“…Such countries often encourage their subnational states to address regional competitiveness by adopting specific paths of action based on pure inward investment policies that often disregard wider regional development goals, placing MNCs as the route to economic salvation, and therefore as the central actors in directing initiatives (Almond et al, 2014;Brenner, 2003;Phelps & Wood, 2006;Rutherford et al, 2018;Wood, 2003). As Almond et al (2012Almond et al ( , 2013Almond et al ( , 2017 demonstrated, liberal forms of state are more likely to have processes of corporate capture than others, given that their accumulation strategies often rely on a passive dependence on locational competitive advantages. The state is mainly absent and does not foster any robust industrial policies.…”

“…FDI scholars were interested in understanding the power relations between states and FDIs and the consequent outcomes of such relations in terms of regional development. Therefore, one main concern of such studies was to understand whether some forms of states were more prone to have corporate capture than others when attracting FDIs (see Almond et al., 2013, 2014; Phelps, 2000; Rutherford et al., 2018). The present article engages with such literature to explore corporate capture, but it also draws from Marxist theories of the state and the GPN literature to further develop it.…”

“…As Almond et al. (2012, 2013, 2017) demonstrated, liberal forms of state are more likely to have processes of corporate capture than others, given that their accumulation strategies often rely on a passive dependence on locational competitive advantages. The state is mainly absent and does not foster any robust industrial policies.…”

“…In contrast, Phelps (2008) has pointed out how national states with accumulation strategies oriented to domestic industrialization, such as with exportist models of development (domestic industries as the hegemonic force within the state), are less likely to have processes of corporate capture. This is because such states often have inward investment policies with wider developmental goals, aiming at not only attracting FDIs but also benefiting local business communities through initiatives that foster industrial clusters, externalization, spillovers, upgrading, and embeddedness (Almond et al., 2013; Phelps, 2008).…”