| Summary/Abstract |
Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have become an important source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in resource-rich countries. Their expansion has stirred a debate in the Western hemisphere about the ability of SOEs to challenge liberal economic practices and to alter domestic governance in the countries where they invest. This paper contributes to this debate by examining the case of Chinese SOE investment in the Canadian hydrocarbon sector. It uses insights from the literature on the world order, international business, and international relations to examine the impact of SOE investment on a host country in the Western hemisphere. As I argue, the Canadian response to SOE’s investment has been on the cautionary side, which opens avenues for institutional innovation that leads to stricter regulations of SOEs’ FDI. As I propose, stricter regulations can be reinterpreted as an attempt to support liberal economic practices, yet may unintentionally have the opposite effect.
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