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Chinese Economic Statecraft and U.S. Hegemony in Latin America: An Empirical Analysis, 2003–2014

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Francisco Urdinez ,
Fernando Mouron ,
Luis L. Schenoni  and
Amâncio J. de Oliveira
Francisco Urdinez
Affiliation:
Center for Advanced Studies in International Negotiations and University of São Paulo—King's College London joint degree program. francisco.urdinez@kcl.ac.uk; fernando.mouron@kcl.ac.uk
Fernando Mouron
Affiliation:
Center for Advanced Studies in International Negotiations and University of São Paulo—King's College London joint degree program. francisco.urdinez@kcl.ac.uk; fernando.mouron@kcl.ac.uk
Luis L. Schenoni
Affiliation:
University of Notre Dame. lschenon@nd.edu
Amâncio J. de Oliveira
Affiliation:
Center for Advanced Studies in International Negotiations and University of São Paulo. amancioj@usp.br
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Abstract

If one interprets China's sizable rise in Latin America as an unprecedented phenomenon, it follows that the concurrent story of declining U.S. influence in the region is an event hastily acknowledged at best and ignored at worst. In this article, we ask whether Chinese economic statecraft in Latin America is related to the declining U.S. hegemonic influence in the region and explore how. To do so we analyze foreign direct investments, bank loans, and international trade from 2003 to 2014, when China became a major player in the region. We use data from 21 Latin American countries, and find that an inversely proportional relationship exists between the investments made by Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs), bank loans, manufacturing exports, and the U.S. hegemonic influence exerted in the region. In other words, Beijing has filled the void left by a diminished U.S. presence in the latter's own backyard.

Type
Research
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 58 , Issue 4 , Winter 2016 , pp. 3 - 30
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 2016

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