This thesis tries to understand how politicians frame the incentive-based competition for FDI and how they understand the trade-offs involved by studying the case of the Netherlands. Politicians...Show moreThis thesis tries to understand how politicians frame the incentive-based competition for FDI and how they understand the trade-offs involved by studying the case of the Netherlands. Politicians continue to feel that investment incentives are effective and useful. A qualitative discourse analysis will show that the understanding and justification of investment incentives is mostly based on the improvement of the investment climate and the creation of employment. Therefore, this thesis contributes to the understanding of investment incentives by different political forces in wealthy and democratic countries, and how they conceptualize competitiveness between mid 2000s and 2017.Show less
Public-private Partnerships (PPPs) are today considered an integral avenue for the pursuit of Kenya’s sustainable development agenda. They are seen as a vehicle through which the government...Show morePublic-private Partnerships (PPPs) are today considered an integral avenue for the pursuit of Kenya’s sustainable development agenda. They are seen as a vehicle through which the government involves the private sector in its development agenda to assist in the provision of public goods and services. The international development community continues to promote PPPs as a model for sustainable development too. Nonetheless, our understanding of the contributions of PPPs for sustainable development is limited. The academic streams on the topic hold rival claims, which further impedes our understanding of the limits and contributions of PPPs for sustainable development. Therefore, it is essential to understand the theoretical implications of PPPs applied on a practical context. Through a case study comparison of two PPP projects in Kenya, this thesis finds that PPPs are not inherently effective or ineffective for sustainable development, but that bottom-up people-first objectives can significantly contribute to local sustainable development, to a national development agenda and the SDGs more broadly. This bottom-up approach, as opposed to the more generally used top-down approach, allows for a more effective and efficient PPP process due to political support and community engagement. Furthermore, the thesis finds that next to PPP design, the political economy of a country can significantly influence the overall effectiveness of PPPs. This means that that future PPPs should take into account the political economy context of the country and its sectors, as well as bottom-up approaches, to optimally contribute to sustainable development.Show less
This thesis looks at the seemingly unbridled growth in credit and accompanying debt in China. It considers why the Chinese government has been unwilling in its practical manner to curb such a...Show moreThis thesis looks at the seemingly unbridled growth in credit and accompanying debt in China. It considers why the Chinese government has been unwilling in its practical manner to curb such a financially dangerous growth in outstanding, short term debts on projects which mostly only have lonbg term financial benefits. By taking a political economy look at the manner in which Chinese growth has turned financial and construction based, this thesis argues that the CCP's unwillingness for not acting on this financial bubble, is due to its core duties as mandated upon its self.Show less
