Introduction

The objective of the first chapter is to develop a theoretical framework as a “set of general assertions about the world”

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that informs the process of analysis undertaken in this dissertation. In particular, it introduces the main theories and their subsequent approaches that are being conceptually linked together as theoretical and methodological building blocks useful for the study of foreign direct investment policy competition between governments. In that regard, the chapter aims to approximate what Lakatos (1970) termed a “scientific research program”, that is, a cluster of interconnected theories consisting of a “hardcore” that must be preserved throughout the research as well as a flexible part, a “positive heuristic”, which provides rules and suggestions for further modifications of the program by the scientist.

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