Conclusion

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter summarizes the impact of programmatic beliefs on decisions about infringement and reform. It first compares the drivers of infringement across cases and discusses what they tell us about the impact of international investment agreements on policy chill. Weak institutions, corruption, political decentralization, and financial volatility contributed to unintended infringement. In Peru, intentional infringement was driven by electoral incentives and social opposition to investment projects. In Ecuador and Argentina, intentional infringement was driven by electoral incentives in some cases, and in others, by the pursuit of policy goals linked to dominant programmatic beliefs. The fact that Peru did not infringe in pursuit of some larger policy goal also reflects the impact of programmatic beliefs. Policymakers saw their role as one of maintaining stable and liberal investment markets. The chapter then compares the impact of programmatic beliefs on political learning processes and reform preferences. Different sets of ideas about the role of the state in domestic economic management and different world-views about the global capitalist system influenced the kinds of problems policymakers perceived in investment treaty law and their preferred solutions to those problems. The chapter ends with some recommendations on fostering inclusive reform processes.