Linda Calabrese is a development economist. Her research interests include Chinese outward investment, industrialisation and economic transformation. She has a strong policy background, having worked for over 10 years in government and at the intersection between research and policy. Linda holds a BSc and MSc in Economics for International Development from Sapienza University of Rome, and an MSc Development Economics from SOAS University of London. She has also spent time at the University of Geneva and at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou.

Linda’s project examines Chinese investment in low-income countries. Since the turn of the century, Chinese companies are increasingly investing in developing countries, both in China’s neighbourhood and farther away. The inflow of Chinese investment in the developing world has prompted questions about the impact of this investment on the host countries’ economic development, both in its own right and in comparison with other foreign investment. The question of whether the impact of Chinese investment differs from that of investment from other countries, and if so in what ways, is important but understudied. This research project aims to fill this gap in the literature and to answer this question using the ‘varieties of capitalism’ framework. The study will provide a comparative assessment of the role of Chinese investment in promoting economic transformation. Using a qualitative research approach, the project will compare the impact of Chinese and non-Chinese foreign investment in terms of job creation, linkages and spillovers on the host countries’ economies.

Primary supervisor: Dr Jan Knoerich