Navigating the Expanding Universe of International Treaties on Foreign Investment -- Creation and Use of a Critical Index

There have been many successful attempts to analyse most of the rules and principles that make up the substance of the international law of foreign investment. There is, however, a lack of a general theory, or, at least, a tool which would allow us to analyse, compare, and make sense of this expanding patchwork of international rules on foreign investment. This article precisely aims at explaining how a combination of legal and economic perspectives can help to break new ground and allow both economists and lawyers to further grasp and analyse the complexity of the current regulatory framework. We created an index, called ‘BITSel Index’, which can help to link case studies to broader analysis and, conversely, more general theories with specific cases; this will help to conduct broader investigation among the large numbers of treaties and link general analysis to specific provisions or practices. Such an effort is not only an intellectual challenge but it also has practical and policy-oriented ramifications, especially in the light of the recurring debate on the effect of investment treaties on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows.