Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T13:32:31.176Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Misperceptions of Chinese Investments in Canada and Their Correction: Evidence from a Survey Experiment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2019

Xiaojun Li ,
Yingqiu Kuang  and
Linting Zhang
Xiaojun Li*
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of British Columbia, C425-1866 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z1
Yingqiu Kuang
Affiliation:
Doctoral Student, Political Science, University of British Columbia, C425-1866 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z1
Linting Zhang
Affiliation:
Doctoral Student, Political Science, University of British Columbia, C425-1866 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z1
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: xiaojun.li@ubc.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Foreign direct investment (FDI) from China has recently met with increasing public opposition in many host nations. Why does the public respond less favourably to Chinese FDI than to FDI from other countries? We explore this question by conducting a series of survey experiments in Canada, where the majority of the public holds a negative opinion of Chinese investment. We find that the bias can be attributed to innumeracy about the relative size of China's FDI and misinformation about investment rules that govern FDI projects in Canada. Correcting both misperceptions substantially reduces the bias of respondents against FDI projects from China. These results suggest that corrective information can lead to positive change in public attitudes, a finding that has important policy implications for Canadian leaders hoping to expand the country's business ties with China.

Résumé

L'investissement direct étranger (IDE) de la Chine s'est récemment heurté à une opposition publique croissante dans de nombreux pays d'accueil. Pourquoi le public réagit-il moins favorablement à l'IDE chinois qu'à l'IDE en provenance d'autres pays ? Nous explorons cette question en menant une série d'enquêtes au Canada, où la majorité de la population a une opinion négative sur les investissements chinois. Nous constatons que le biais peut être attribué à l'ignorance relative à la taille de l'IDE chinois et à la désinformation sur les règles d'investissement qui régissent les projets d'IDE au Canada. La correction de ces deux perceptions erronées réduit considérablement le biais des répondants à l'encontre des projets d'IDE en provenance de Chine. Ces résultats suggèrent que l'information corrective peut mener à un changement positif dans les attitudes du public, une constatation qui a des implications politiques importantes pour les dirigeants canadiens qui espèrent étendre les liens d'affaires du pays avec la Chine.

Keywords

MisperceptionForeign Direct InvestmentCanadaChinaPublic Opinion
Type
Research Article/Étude originale
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 52 , Issue 2 , June 2019 , pp. 285 - 302
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alba, Richard, Rumbaut, Rubén G. and Marotz, Karen. 2005. “A Distorted Nation: Perceptions of Racial/Ethnic Group Sizes and Attitudes toward Immigrants and Other Minorities.” Social Forces 84 (2): 901–19.Google Scholar
APFC (Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada). 2015. 2015 National Opinion Poll: Canadian Views on Asian Investment. https://www.asiapacific.ca/surveys/national-opinion-polls/2015-national-opinion-poll-canadian-views-asian-investment (May 23, 2017).Google Scholar
Bechtel, Michael M. and Scheve, Kenneth F.. 2013. “Mass Support for Global Climate Agreements Depends on Institutional Design.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110 (34): 13763–68.Google Scholar
Carpini, Michael X. Delli and Keeter, Scott. 1996. What Americans Know about Politics and Why It Matters. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Citrin, Jack and Sides, John. 2008. “Immigration and the Imagined Community in Europe and the United States.” Political Studies 56 (1): 33–56.Google Scholar
Eagly, Alice H. and Chaiken, Shelly. 1993. The Psychology of Attitudes. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.Google Scholar
Festinger, Leon. 1957. A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Gaines, Brian J., Kuklinski, James H., Quirk, Paul J., Peyton, Buddy and Verkuilen, Jay. 2007. “Same Facts, Different Interpretations: Partisan Motivation and Opinion on Iraq.” Journal of Politics 69 (4): 957–74.Google Scholar
Gaissmaier, Wolfgang and Gigerenzer, Gerd. 2008. “Statistical Illiteracy Undermines Informed Shared Decision Making.” Zeitschrift für Evidenz, Fortbildung und Qualität im Gesundheitswesen 102 (7): 411–413.Google Scholar
Gilens, Martin. 2001. “Political Ignorance and Collective Policy Preferences.” American Political Science Review 95 (2): 379–96.Google Scholar
Grant, Michael. 2012. Fear the Dragon? Chinese Foreign Direct Investment in Canada. https://ssrn.com/abstract=2222795. (October 21, 2017).Google Scholar
Haglin, Kathryn. 2017. “The Limitations of the Backfire Effect.” Research & Politics 4 (3): 1–5.Google Scholar
Hainmueller, Jens and Hopkins, Daniel J.. 2014. “The Hidden American Immigration Consensus: A Conjoint Analysis of Attitudes toward Immigrants.” American Journal of Political Science 59 (3): 529–48.Google Scholar
Hale, Geoffrey. 2008. “The Dog That Hasn't Barked: The Political Economy of Contemporary Debates on Canadian Foreign Investment Policies.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 41 (3): 719–47.Google Scholar
Hale, Geoffrey. 2014. “CNOOC-Nexen, State-Controlled Enterprises and Canadian Foreign Investment Policies: Adapting to Divergent Modernization.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 47 (2): 349–73.Google Scholar
Hansen, Kasper M., Olsen, Asmus L. and Bech, Mickael. 2014. “Cross-National Yardstick Comparisons: A Choice Experiment on a Forgotten Voter Heuristic.” Political Behavior 37 (4): 767–89.Google Scholar
Herda, Daniel. 2010. “How Many Immigrants? Foreign-born Population Innumeracy in Europe.” Public Opinion Quarterly 74 (4): 674–95.Google Scholar
Herda, Daniel. 2013. “Innocuous Ignorance? Perceptions of the American Jewish Population Size.” Contemporary Jewry 33 (3): 241–55.Google Scholar
Howell, William G. and West, Martin R.. 2009. “Educating the Public.” Education Next 9 (3): 41–47.Google Scholar
Huang, Haifeng and Liu, Xinsheng. 2018. “Historical Knowledge and National Identity: Evidence from China.” Research and Politics 5 (3): 1–8.Google Scholar
Jensen, Nathan M. and Lindstädt, René. 2013. Globalization with Whom: Context-Dependent Foreign Direct Investment Preferences. Working Paper. http://www.natemjensen.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Globalization_with_Whom_-Working-Paper.pdf (October 21, 2017).Google Scholar
Kahan, Dan M., Peters, Ellen, Dawson, Erica Cantrell and Slovic, Paul. 2013. “Motivated Numeracy and Enlightened Self-Government.” Behavioral Public Policy 1 (1): 54–86.Google Scholar
Kuklinski, James H., Quirk, Paul J., Jerit, Jennifer, Schweider, David and Rich, Robert F.. 2000. “Misinformation and the Currency of Democratic Citizenship.” The Journal of Politics 62 (3): 790–816.Google Scholar
Kull, Steven, Ramsay, Clay and Lewis, Evan. 2003. “Misperceptions, the Media, and the Iraq War.” Political Science Quarterly 118 (4): 569–98.Google Scholar
Lawrence, Eric D. and Sides, John. 2014. “The Consequences of Political Innumeracy.” Research and Politics 1 (2): 1–8.Google Scholar
Lewandowsky, Stephan, Ecker, Ullrich K. H., Seifert, Colleen M., Schwarz, Norbert and Cook, John. 2012. “Misinformation and Its Correction: Continued Influence and Successful Debiasing.” Psychological Science in the Public Interest 13 (3): 106–31.Google Scholar
Li, Xiaojun and Zeng, Ka. 2017. “Individual Preferences for FDI in Developing Countries: Experimental Evidence from China.” Journal of Experimental Political Science 4 (3): 1–11.Google Scholar
Lupia, Arthur. 1994. “Shortcuts versus Encyclopedias: Information and Voting Behavior in California Insurance Reform Elections.” American Political Science Review 88 (1): 63–76.Google Scholar
Massot, Pascale, Evans, Paul and Li, Xiaojun. 2018. “Quebec Survey Respondents Positive, Pragmatic about Ties with China.” The Hill Times, May 16.Google Scholar
Nyhan, Brendan and Reifler, Jason. 2010. “When Corrections Fail: The Persistence of Political Misperceptions.” Political Behavior 32 (2): 303–30.Google Scholar
Nyhan, Brendan and Reifler, Jason. 2015. “Does Correcting Myths about the Flu Vaccine Work? An Experimental Evaluation of the Effects of Corrective Information.” Vaccine 33 (3): 459–64.Google Scholar
OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). 2016. FDI in Figures. http://www.oecd.org/corporate/FDI-in-Figures-April-2016.pdf (October 21, 2017).Google Scholar
Peters, Ellen. 2006. “Beyond Comprehension: The Role of Numeracy in Judgments and Decisions.” Current Directions in Psychological Science 21 (1): 31–35.Google Scholar
Scotto, Thomas J., Reifler, Jason, Hudson, David and van Heerde-Hudson, Jennifer. 2017. “We Spend How Much? Misperceptions, Innumeracy, and Support for the Foreign Aid in the United States and Great Britain.” Journal of Experimental Political Science 3 (2): 1–10.Google Scholar
Guardian, The. 2016. “Why Have Ministers Delayed Final Approval for Hinkley Point C?” https://www (October 21, 2017).Google Scholar
The New York Times. 2017. “Trump Blocks China-Backed Bid to Buy U.S. Chip Maker.” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/13/business/trump-lattice-semiconductor-china.html (October 21, 2017).Google Scholar
Theiss-Morse, Elizabeth. 2003. “Characterizations and Consequences: How Americans Envision the American People.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago.Google Scholar
Umaña, Víctor, Bernauer, Thomas and Spilker, Gabriele. 2014. “Different Countries, Same Partners? Experimental Evidence on PTA Partner Country Choice from Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Vietnam.” Working Paper No. 2014/17. NCCR Trade Regulation.Google Scholar
Wood, Thomas and Porter, Ethan. 2016. “The Elusive Backfire Effect: Mass Attitudes’ Steadfast Factual Adherence”. https://ssrn.com/abstract=2819073 (October 21, 2017).Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Li et al. supplementary material

Online Appendix

Download Li et al. supplementary material(File)
File 635.2 KB