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First mover advantage: the United Kingdom and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

First mover advantage: the United Kingdom and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank In March 2015, the UK applied to become a founder member of the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) despite objections from the Foreign Office and Washington, DC, and ahead of other major western countries although they were to follow quickly. What explains the British decision? The paper argues that the underlying long-run reasons included shifting perceptions of American and Chinese power, economic imperatives, the institutional opportunities offered to pursue “venue-shopping” strategies within the British state, and widespread ambivalence about UK policy towards China. Furthermore, although analyses often eschew “snapshot” perspectives, short-run perceptions that the UK could, by joining the AIIB at that point, gain a first mover advantage that would provide greater access to Chinese markets, secure contracts across Asia for British firms, and enable the City of London to win an even greater share of the offshore renminbi trade proved decisive. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Asia Europe Journal Springer Journals

First mover advantage: the United Kingdom and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Ashbee, Edward
Asia Europe Journal , Volume 19 (4) – Dec 1, 2021
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15 pages

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Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2021
ISSN
1610-2932
eISSN
1612-1031
DOI
10.1007/s10308-021-00595-6
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

In March 2015, the UK applied to become a founder member of the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) despite objections from the Foreign Office and Washington, DC, and ahead of other major western countries although they were to follow quickly. What explains the British decision? The paper argues that the underlying long-run reasons included shifting perceptions of American and Chinese power, economic imperatives, the institutional opportunities offered to pursue “venue-shopping” strategies within the British state, and widespread ambivalence about UK policy towards China. Furthermore, although analyses often eschew “snapshot” perspectives, short-run perceptions that the UK could, by joining the AIIB at that point, gain a first mover advantage that would provide greater access to Chinese markets, secure contracts across Asia for British firms, and enable the City of London to win an even greater share of the offshore renminbi trade proved decisive.

Journal

Asia Europe Journal – Springer Journals

Published: Dec 1, 2021

Keywords: United Kingdom; Infrastructure; Development finance; China; First mover advantage

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