The project addressed the incomplete theoretical understanding of SWFs in the global economy, as instances of state capital, by critically examining the concept of ‘state capitalism’ and its various manifestations across the social sciences. Our analysis shows that the concept ‘state capitalism’ not only lacks a unified definition, but actually refers to an extremely wide array of policy instruments, strategic objectives, institutional forms and networks, that involve the state to different degrees. Consequently, the analytical value of the concept state capitalism is weak, meaning its usage in scholarly as a well as public discourse in reference to SWFs is also weak. As such, we have identified a set of issues to make the concept more analytically robust, allowing for a more comprehensive critique of state capital and the relationship between the state and global finance. This theoretical work has been crucial for understanding the growth and significance of sovereign wealth funds in Europe and globally.
Researchers from the team have conducted field work in several locations, including Russia and China, and attended major international forums focused on SWFs. For example, work conducted on the China Investment Corporation, the country’s premier SWF, has demonstrated how global financial professionals facilitate and legitimate the integration of Chinese state capital in global markets. This work also unpacked the differential approaches to Chinese foreign investment, showing the key differences between investment through the SWF or state-owned enterprises. This is crucial for avoiding a monolithic view of Chinese foreign investment when researching Chinese state capital in receiving countries in the second subproject.
The SWFsEUROPE project, in addition to producing 12 journal articles, produced two monographs (Sovereign Wealth Funds; The Rise of State Capital), a PhD thesis (Investing for the State), and an edited volume (The Political Economy of Geoeconomics). Project team members have presented work and/or engaged with policymakers and practitioners, including at the European Commission, the Bank of Botswana, and the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds.
