Research Highlight

I. ERC Project ‘Legitimacy, Financialization, and Varieties of Capitalism: Understanding Sovereign Wealth Funds in Europe’ (SWFsEUROPE). Research team: Adam Dixon (principal investigator), Ilias Alami (postdoctoral researcher), Choukri Bzitmi (PhD candidate), Imogen Liu (PhD candidate), Angelica Yeraminovich (PhD candidate)

The subject of this project, funded by the European Research Council, is state-controlled investment funds known commonly as sovereign wealth funds (SWFs). The number and size of SWFs has grown substantially in the last decade, leading to an unsettled debate regarding their legitimacy in the global political economy, particularly as many originate from the Global South and from illiberal political economies (e.g. China). Some suggest they represent the (re)emergence of state-led capitalism subject to geopolitical motivations that threaten free markets. For others, SWFs represent a source of long-term patient capital capable of mitigating market short-termism. Either way, SWFs challenge the norm, particularly in the Global North, that financial markets are spaces of exchange for non-state actors. By analyzing the behavior of SWFs, their interaction with different stakeholders at home and abroad, and how they are legitimized as financial actors in the global political economy, this study will provide new critical insights into the contemporary relationship between the state and the market. The project is its initial phases, with the PhD candidates designing their individual research projects. Initial fieldwork will be conducted in China, Russia, and Morocco. Additional country case studies will take place as the project progresses. The project runs until the end of 2022.

Adam Dixon