Bringing Capacity Back In: Paradiplomacy and Sub-State Government Internationalization in the Global Economy.

This article examines why some sub-state governments establish international offices for economic development while others do not, focusing on the concept of sub-state government internationalization (SGI) as a form of paradiplomacy. Using an original dataset of 517 sub-state governments within the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the study finds that SGI adoption and size are significantly influenced by three types of sub-state capacity: revenue (government income), human capital (public administration employment), and information (geographic proximity to international borders and economic reliance on primary industries). Notably, the relationship between revenue and SGI is non-linear, with middle-tier income sub-state governments more likely to internationalize than the wealthiest ones. The article highlights the importance of capacity over autonomy alone in explaining variations in SGI and contributes a new theoretical and methodological framework for studying paradiplomacy across diverse sub-state contexts.