Foreign direct investment in the Ottoman Empire: Attitudes and political risk

This study examines political risk for foreign direct investment in the Ottoman Empire during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Such a study has not previously been carried out. Despite many vicissitudes, such as wars and rebellions, the investment climate was more welcoming as compared to neighbouring lands such as Russia and the Balkan countries. While the Ottomans had a corrupt bureaucracy, as in Russia and the Balkans, they were free of xenophobia. Even those Ottoman intellectuals who were against complete freedom in international trade acknowledged the necessity of attracting foreign capital to the country, and suggested policy recommendations.Ottoman Empire, foreign direct investment, political risk, host country attitude, European Powers,