Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 10/2010

FDI incentives pay—politically

Nathan M. Jensen, Edmund J. Malesky

June 2010

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

Abstract

The authors find that there are strong political benefits to attracting FDI at the state-level in the United States, and that fiscal incentives for attracting such investment, regardless of their effectiveness, may be a strategic political tool for state politicians.