“Do bilateral investment treaties promote foreign direct investment?” At a time when including ISDS in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) has become a highly political issue, this simple question is worth asking. Jason Webb Yackee, associate professor of law at the University of Wisconsin, addressed it in a scientific article back in 2010.
Yackee asked the top 200 US corporations on the Fortune 500 list whether investment treaties influence their decisions to invest. “Overall, the responses indicate a…