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Sovereign Wealth Funds and the Acquisition of Power

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  • Ashley Thomas Lenihan

Abstract

Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are increasingly powerful actors in the international political system and world economy. The current discourse often focuses on SWFs as political versus market actors. In this exploratory article, however, it is shown that SWFs may be both. They may be employed as a means to increase a state's relative economic power, even when their individual investments are generally made on the basis of economic, market-driven, logic. After a brief overview of SWFs, and literature review of the issues that attend them, I examine the traditional neorealist understanding of internal balancing and argue that there is evidence to support the claim that SWFs can be employed as tools of this state strategy. Four methods, and two cases (Singapore and China), of internal balancing through SWFs are then examined. I find that some SWFs are used for internal balancing purposes in the conventional sense, but that the phenomena may be better captured by the newer concept of non-military internal balancing (in which a state's relative economic power is enhanced without damage to the overall relationship they currently maintain with the target state).

Suggested Citation

  • Ashley Thomas Lenihan, 2014. "Sovereign Wealth Funds and the Acquisition of Power," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 227-257, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:cnpexx:v:19:y:2014:i:2:p:227-257
    DOI: 10.1080/13563467.2013.779650
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Roland Beck & Michael Fidora, 2008. "The impact of sovereign wealth funds on global financial markets," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 43(6), pages 349-358, November.
    2. Edwin M. Truman, 2007. "Sovereign Wealth Funds: The Need for Greater Transparency and Accountability," Policy Briefs PB07-6, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    3. Laura D'Andrea Tyson, 1992. "Who's Bashing Whom? Trade Conflict in High-Technology Industries," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 86.
    4. Edward M. Graham & David Marchick, 2006. "US National Security and Foreign Direct Investment," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 3917.
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    1. Warren Clarke, 2016. "Sovereign Patent Funds: Sovereign Wealth Funds 2.0?," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 7(4), pages 577-583, November.
    2. Salman Bahoo & M. Kabir Hassan & Andrea Paltrinieri & Ashraf Khan, 2019. "A model of the Islamic sovereign wealth fund," Islamic Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 27(1), pages 2-22, August.
    3. Bahoo, Salman & Alon, Ilan & Paltrinieri, Andrea, 2020. "Sovereign wealth funds: Past, present and future," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    4. Babic, Milan & Dixon, Adam & Fichtner, Jan, 2021. "Varieties of state capital: What does foreign state-led investment do in a globalized world?," OSF Preprints tm82g, Center for Open Science.
    5. Balestra, Anna & Caruso, Raul & Di Domizio, Marco, 2024. "What explains the size of Sovereign Wealth Funds? A panel analysis (2008–2018)," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PB).
    6. Cody D. Eldredge, 2019. "Capability and need: A framework for understanding why states create sovereign wealth funds," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(5), pages 1495-1519, May.

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