Cultural Norms and Metagovernance in the Regulation of FDI: Trans-Tasman FDI Regimes

Australia and New Zealand provide a unique set of comparators with which to examine similarities and differences in approaches to the regulation of foreign direct investment (FDI). By examining experience with the regulation of FDI in these two states, we show how they act in the governance space to enable state directed regulation and how they differ in their approach to regulation. In particular, we focus on the influence of cultural norms in shaping meta-governance responses from each of the states. Textual analysis of the treatment of investment in bi-lateral discussions associated with Closer Economic Relations demonstrates that political, social, cultural and institutional factors are integral to modelling the challenges faced by national governments in regulating FDI