The Role of Local Actors in the Implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative: the Example of the Italian Port System

Author(s)
Cristian Luise, Peter J. Buckley, Hinrich Voss, Maria Emmanouela Plakoyiannaki, Elisa Barbieri
Abstract

Infrastructural assets are vital for a country’s economic and social development. Governments typically provide the regulation and administration of these assets, while multinational enterprises (MNEs) develop, construct, finance, and operate them. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) promises infrastructure projects that deliver economic and social benefit for both the host country and the MNE. We argue that BRI objectives and project scope are kept in check in the host country through an existing nexus of property rights. Chinese investors need to understand the bargaining position and property rights actors across multiple levels, across space, and be mindful of changes over time when negotiating for an infrastructure investment. We interrogate four case studies of Chinese investment negotiations in Italian ports to explore the conceptual framework and to examine how the negotiation process evolved following BRI.

Organisation(s)
Department of Marketing and International Business
External organisation(s)
University of Leeds, HEC Montréal, Universita Ca' Foscari, Venezia
Journal
Dipartimento di Economia, Università Ca'Foscari Venezia Working Papers
Pages
1-53
Publication date
08-2021
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
502016 SME-research, 502054 Entrepreneurship
Keywords
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
Portal url
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/the-role-of-local-actors-in-the-implementation-of-the-belt-and-road-initiative-the-example-of-the-italian-port-system(f5bbb37d-089a-4690-8282-ac2290100b8e).html