RPP 8
My goal for the small-n case study research is to explain Cuba’s growth in the global market using business opportunities for foreign investment provided the Cuba government as my dependent variable. The way I would operationalize this variable is by viewing the types of foreign investment being made in Cuba as well as any government restrictions attached. Also, I would explore the type of Cuba government documents that justify foreign investment as part of the Cuban revolution goal. I would use the different investment sectors as the cases in my research to understand how foreign investment manifests itself in different economic areas. Explore issues like if one sector has freer regulations than others and what sector the government is most interested in the flow of foreign investment.
I will use the Portfolio of Opportunities for Foreign Investment released by the Cuban government in 2014 to explore and qualify the type of investment sectors and projects offered for international investment.[1] I In the portfolio, there is a table that indicates the number of projects offered to each of the sectors along with each specific project, the investment amount and investment type.[2] This source can aid me to operationalize of my dependent variable because it defines the different sectors of the Cuban economy as defined by the Cuban government. This portfolio has some interesting statistics and incentives and strategies for bringing foreign investment in Cuba especially in the tourist and agricultural sector which I can use as my main cases. The tourist sector involves projects for foreign investment that include the building of new hotel and golf courses, projects that seem to juxtapose many of the governments revolutionary rhetoric.[3] While the agricultural sector has a number restrictions and makes it clear that a large portion of this sector will stay under government control.[4]
There are other sources that I may use to operationalize my dependent variable like the Cuban government official stance in foreign investment by analyzing national assembly’s where this topic has been discussed. I can see the statistics of the companies that invested in these projects from 2014 and if they were successful or not. I will continue to research to compile any data of the projects from the 2014 portfolio that were implemented in the island.
[1] MINCEX, “Portfolio of Opportunities for Foreign Investment,” 2014, http://www.caribbean-council.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Cuba-foreign-investment-projects-Nov-2014-official.pdf.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
Luis — you have a great start here in terms of thinking about the case, DV, and data that you might use to understand your DV in a case study project. I think that you also have the start to a great puzzle here as you note that you “would explore the type of Cuba government documents that justify foreign investment as part of the Cuban revolution goal.” — this is really interesting! Here we have a Cuban government that is still socialist/communist (and substantively so in many ways), yet they are opening up to one of the most “capatilist” things possible: FDI!
Thinking about the case study in this way would take you to an analysis of some economic choices, but also (importantly and interestingly) into the politics, rhetoric, language, and justification choices of the Cuban government for such a (seemingly) contradictory strategy. I would recommend that you keep researching this angle!