Reciprocity and Public Opposition to Foreign Direct Investment

Prior International Political Economy (IPE) public opinion research has primarily examined how economic and socio-cultural factors shape individuals’ views on the flows of goods, people, and capital. What has largely been ignored is whether individuals also care about rewarding or punishing foreign countries for their policies on these subjects. To test this possibility, we administered a series of conjoint and traditional survey experiments in the United States and China that examined how reciprocity influences opposition to foreign acquisitions of domestic companies. We find that reciprocity is an important determinant of public opinion on the regulation of foreign investments. This suggests the need to consider the policies that other countries adopt when trying to explain public attitudes towards global economic integration.

既往的国际政治经济学（International Political Economy，简称IPE）公众舆论研究，主要围绕经济与社会文化因素如何塑造个体对商品、人员及资本跨境流动的看法展开。长期以来，学界几乎未关注过这样一个问题：个体是否也会因他国在上述议题上的政策，而对该国施以奖惩。为验证这一研究假设，我们分别在美国与中国开展了一系列联合实验（conjoint experiment）与传统调查实验，以考察互惠性如何影响公众对外国企业收购本国企业的反对态度。研究结果显示，互惠性是影响公众对外国投资监管态度的重要决定性因素。这意味着，在解释公众对全球经济一体化的态度时，有必要将他国所推行的政策纳入考量维度。