Fernando M. Reimers et .311.

Students then use those pieces to answer some of the following questions:

1. Is democracy a precedent of growth?

2. What might be the influence of regimes on growth?

3. What have the historical experiences of different countries within
the region been?

4. How do crime rates and government debt influence investor confi—
dence and FDI flow?

5. What is the role of corruption and informal economies in growth?

6. How have countries with regimes other than democracies experi—
enced growth and development?

Opuonl

Students may use a data set of FDI flows and overlay it with important
political developments in a country of their choice to examine the changes
over time and the associations between politics and economics. Students
may also map growth rates with political—regime characteristics, as done by
the Polity 1V Project (http://www.systemicpeace.org/polity/polity4.htm).

OpfionZ

Students may interview the chief investment officer of a Multi National
Corporation that has operations in Latin America or different parts of the
world about some of the factors that he or she considered while deciding
where to invest. Simultaneously, the chief of economic affairs of a consulate
from one of the BRIC countries could be invited to give a presentation on
some of the reforms and incentives being undertaken by the government to

attract investors and to continue restoring investors’ confidence.

396