Bilateral Investment Treaties and Entrepreneurship: A Social Network Analysis

Ziruo Chen, Bifei Tian, W. Robert Reed () and Zhengxin Wang
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W. Robert Reed: University of Canterbury, https://www.canterbury.ac.nz

Working Papers in Economics from University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance

Abstract: This paper empirically investigates the effects of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) on entrepreneurship through the lens of social network analysis (SNA), focusing on two key network characteristics: centrality and brokerage. We begin by developing a set of hypotheses regarding how a country’s position within the BIT network influences entrepreneurial activity. These hypotheses are tested using a panel dataset of 102 countries spanning 2006–2018. We also examine how these relationships are moderated by economic development and trade integration, and whether they vary across different types of entrepreneurship—including formal vs. informal, male vs. female, and domestic vs. international entrepreneurship. Our findings indicate that centrality has a positive effect on entrepreneurship, while brokerage exerts a negative influence. Moreover, both economic development and trade integration are found to weaken these effects. We also observe differential impacts of BIT network structure across the various entrepreneurship subgroups.

Keywords: BITs network; Entrepreneurship; Centrality; Brokerage; Economic development; Trade integration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F15 F21 F63 L26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 44 pages
Date: 2025-04-01
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cbt:econwp:25/06

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