Sovereign Wealth Funds and International Political Economy

The literature on sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) is marred by two problems, according to Shemirani (Old Dominion U.): firstly, the failure to investigate why SWFs were created, what their goals are, and how owner states pursue these goals and, secondly, a tendency to lump all SWFs into a single set with little consideration to their particularities. He addresses these shortcomings by offering a micro-level study of the SWFs of Norway, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, and Russia that combines economic and political perspectives in examining each. He concludes that the idea that investor states use SWFs primarily as a means of pursuing political power over other states is unjustified and the idea that they are primarily used for balance of payments corrections is equally unsound. Instead, he argues, some states are acting as economic agents or entrepreneurs in order to increase the value of their assets while others are using SWFs in order to accumulate resources required for domestic matters. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Manda Shemirani, Old Dominion University, USA