University of Missouri, St. Louis IRL @ UMSL Dissertations UMSL Graduate Works 12-13-2011 Explaining Investment Policies in Microstates: The Case of the Fiji Islands Sudarsan Kant University of Missouri-St. Louis Follow this and additional works at: https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation Part of the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Kant, Sudarsan, "Explaining Investment Policies in Microstates: The Case of the Fiji Islands" (2011). Dissertations. 395. https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation/395 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the UMSL Graduate Works at IRL @ UMSL. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of IRL @ UMSL. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Explaining Investment Policies in Microstates: The Case of the Fiji Islands By Sudarsan Kant A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Missouri-St. Louis In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy In Political Science November 15, 2011 Advisory Committee Kenneth Thomas, PhD., (Chair) Nancy Kinney, Ph.D. Eduardo Silva, Ph.D. Daniel Hellinger, Ph.D. Abstract . Prevailing theories have failed to take into account the development of policy and institutions in microstates that are engineered to attract investments in areas of comparative advantage as these small islands confront the challenges of globalization and instead have emphasized migration, remittances and foreign aid (MIRAB) as an explanation for the survival of microstates in the global economy. This dissertation challenges the MIRAB model as an adequate explanation of investment strategy in microstates and argues that comparative advantage is a better theory to explain policy behavior of microstates.