CITIZENSHIP BY INVESTMENT PROGRAMS IN THE CARIBBEAN: AN EXAMINATION OF THE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL IMPACTS by Cindy Robin A Thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Political Science Memorial University of Newfoundland October 2020 St. John’s Newfoundland and Labrador ABSTRACT After Malta decided to offer its citizenship “for sale” in 2013, interest in the topic of citizenship by investment (CBI) programs suddenly peaked. However, long before Malta, Caribbean states have been “selling” their citizenship as well. Employing a case study methodology, which takes as its case a “family of nations” –i.e. the five Caribbean countries running CBI programs—, this paper unpacks the conditions which foster the implementation of CBI programs and discusses their ability to support economic development. It also examines how third parties (e.g. foreign governments) see citizens of CBI-granting countries, contending that external political costs, stemming from a concern of threats posed through possible misuse of these countries’ citizenship, may outweigh the economic benefit. Keywords: citizenship, citizenship by investment, investor citizenship, Caribbean i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to thank Dr. Amanda Bittner who encouraged and gently nudged me into undertaking a thesis project and who was instrumental in my being awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarship, for which I am also grateful. Secondly, I would like to thank my thesis supervisor, Dr. Isabelle Côté, who was always available to provide guidance whenever I ran into a roadblock or had any questions pertaining to my research or other academic matters. I must thank my interview participants who took the time to reflect on their views of citizenship by investment and to share them with me. I also express my very profound gratitude to my mother who served as my editor and also steered me in the direction of some research materials which I may have missed otherwise. Finally, I must extend my sincerest thanks to the rest of my immediate family. This accomplishment would not have been possible without their support and encouragement. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................................... i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................................ ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF BOXES ............................................................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................................. v LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF APPENDICES ................................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................................ vii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.1. Introduction to Citizenship-by-Investment ........................................................................................ 1 1.2. Importance of Research Topic ............................................................................................................ 2 1.3. Research Questions and Arguments .................................................................................................. 5 1.4. Theoretical Frameworks ..................................................................................................................... 6 1.5. Research Design ................................................................................................................................. 7 1.6. Organization of Paper ......................................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ....................................................... 10 2.1. Literature Review: Definitions of Citizenship and Investor Citizenship Programs ........................... 11 2.1.1. Definitions of citizenship........................................................................................................... 11 2.1.2. Investor citizenship programs ................................................................................................... 13 2.1.3. Arguments against investor citizenship .................................................................................... 15 2.1.4. Arguments in support of investor citizenship ........................................................................... 20 2.1.5. What is really being sold? ........................................................................................................ 21 2.1.6. A lack of empirical evidence .................................................................................................... 24 2.2. Theoretical Frameworks .................................................................................................................. 26 2.2.1. Rational choice theory .............................................................................................................. 26 2.2.2. Normative institutionalism ....................................................................................................... 30 2.3. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 32 CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH DESIGN ................................................................................................................. 33 3.1. Research Method ............................................................................................................................. 33 3.1.1. Case study method ................................................................................................................... 33 3.1.2. Data collection .......................................................................................................................... 35 iii 3.1.3. Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 37 3.2. Descriptive Overview of Case Countries .......................................................................................... 38 3.3. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 40 CHAPTER 4. REASONS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CBI PROGRAMS IN THE FIVE COUNTRIES ......... 41 4.1. Conditions Leading to the Implementation of the CBI Programs .................................................... 41 4.1.1. Condition I: adverse economic environment ........................................................................... 41 4.1.1.1. Analysis of economic environments .................................................................................... 44 4.1.1.2. Antigua and Barbuda ........................................................................................................... 45 4.1.1.3. Dominica .............................................................................................................................. 48 4.1.1.4. Grenada ............................................................................................................................... 52 4.1.1.5. St. Kitts and Nevis ............................................................................................................... 54 4.1.1.6. St. Lucia ................................................................................................................................ 57 4.1.2. Condition II: strong passport ................................................................................................... 60 4.1.3. Condition III: government willing to trade country’s citizenship for financial gain ................. 62 4.2. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 66 CHAPTER 5. THE ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF THE CARIBBEAN CBI PROGRAMS .......................................... 67 5.1. Socio-economic Achievements of CBI Programs in Dominica and Other Caribbean Countries ...... 67 5.2. Limitations of the Impact of CBI Programs ...................................................................................... 74 5.2.1. Short-term vision of CBI programs ........................................................................................... 74 5.2.2. Role of middlemen ................................................................................................................... 87 5.2.3. Transparency concerns ............................................................................................................. 89 5.3. Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................