<p>A vast body of research examines the impact of international investment agreements (IIAs) on foreign direct investment (FDI). Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), the investment chapters of free trade agreements, and investor-state contracts are among the most widely used policy instruments intended to attract investment by providing legal protections for foreign investors. While existing studies assess their influence on FDI flows, little research directly examines whether IIAs improve foreign investors’ perceptions of property rights enforcement in host countries—the primary mechanism through which these agreements are assumed to function. This manuscript addresses this gap by providing empirical evidence on the relationship between IIAs and foreign investors’ perceptions of property rights. Using firm-level data from the World Business Environment Survey, which includes over 36,000 firms across 54 countries, the study demonstrates that IIAs are associated with greater foreign investor confidence in property rights enforcement. By directly measuring investor perceptions rather than inferring them from aggregate investment trends, this analysis offers new insight into how IIAs function in practice and their role in shaping investment environments in developing economies.</p>