Definition of Capital Flight
(noun) The flow (flight) of capital away from one country or investment into another.
Examples of Capital Flight
- Investors moving money out of the stock market in countries affected by war.
- Moving currency from one country to another to avoid inflation.
Capital Flight Pronunciation
Syllabification: cap·i·tal flight
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /kAp-uht-l flIEt/
- British English – /kAp-itl flIEt/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈkæpətəl flaɪt/
- British English – /ˈkæpɪtl flaɪt/
Usage Note
- Plural: capital flights
Additional Information
- Economic Sociology Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “capital” and “flight” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
Works Consulted
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 5th ed. 2011. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.
Macmillan. (N.d.) Macmillan Dictionary. (https://www.macmillandictionary.com/).
Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Stewart, Paul, and Johan Zaaiman, eds. 2015. Sociology: A Concise South African Introduction. Cape Town: Juta.
Cite the Definition of Capital Flight
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “capital flight.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved September 29, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/capital-flight/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
capital flight. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/capital-flight/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “capital flight.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed September 29, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/capital-flight/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“capital flight.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 29 Sep. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/capital-flight/>.