State transformations in the global political economy: The rise of transnational state capital in the 21st century

This dissertation analyzes the rise of transnational state capital in the global political economy and its consequences for international politics. A standard reading of the rise of “state capitalism” in the last years suggests that it represents a counter-movement against neoliberal globalization. In this study, I challenge this reading and argue that it is not primarily state capitalist economies (like China or the BRICS), but rather state-owned capital that rises in the global political economy. It does so through the very opportunity structures neoliberal globalization itself created. The consequences for international politics are hence more nuanced than the standard “state capitalist challenge”-reading suggests: states rise as owners in the global political economy and thereby engage in forms of geoeconomic competition with other economic actors. In order to substantiate these arguments, the dissertation sets up and analyzes the largest existing firm-level dataset on cross-border state investment.
The findings of this study show:
(1) Which states are senders and targets of cross-border state investment and how they relate to each other within the global political economy.
(2) The variety of different strategies states as transnational owners apply, from financial to more controlling strategies.
(3) How the employment of these strategies leads to variegated effects on international politics in the form of geoeconomic competition; and which geographical areas are the hotspots of this type of competition.
In sum, the project hence demonstrates how states become part of global markets; which strategies they employ to do so; and what consequences this rise has for international politics.