The Business of Citizenship: Investment Citizenship Firms in Global Governance

Abstract

Since the 2008 financial crisis, more and more states have started to “sell” citizenships and residence permits to the global economic elite in return for investments. This trade is mediated by transnational firms in the investment citizenship industry, who help governments design and reform the programmes, and assist the wealthy in applying for them. The objective of this article is to explore the activities of these firms, that until now have been largely neglected in research. In order to understand their agency and the forms of power that they are able to exert, this article engages IR theory and sociological network theory on intermediaries. It is argued that investment citizenship firms take on two different intermediary roles at the same time, as regulatory intermediary and as broker. The article finds that the firms are sometimes able to amount a considerable power vis-à-vis state actors; and that they also contribute to the decoupling of the global elite from ties to precise localities, in the process also transforming the purpose of statehood. The investment citizenship firms are hence consequential actors in global governance, and their activities merit more research attention.