Multinational Enterprises In Less Developed Countries

This volume identifies and analyses the crucial issues in the impact of multinational enterprises (MNEs) on less developed countries (LDCs). Although the authors take a variety of wide stances on the important questions a uniformity of approach emerges. The perspective is essentially that of economic analysis but it is enlivened by unorthodox concepts derived from related social science disciplines. The chapters cover the process of development, paying attention to entrepreneurship, cultural factors and management styles and examine the impact on welfare and income distribution in the host country.

Multinationals dominate world trade and direct investment. However, less developed countries have often regarded this power as detrimental to their fragile, growing economies and have pursued a policy of regulation. Modern economic theories of multinationals need to evaluate the effects of such policies.

In light of the increasing global competition among both multinational companies and national economies, Barbara Samuels examines a source of economic tension that has broad social implications: as multinational companies (MNCs) strive for cheaper labor and new markets, less-developed countries (LDCs) are becoming more concerned with extracting benefits from these companies to achieve their development objectives. Samuels centers her study on the variables shaping the responses of MNCs to national demands while considering current debates on country risk, global competitiveness, and national industrial policy. Advancing a micro-view of the MNC and its host country in two case studies, Samuels shows how an MNC subsidiary's integration with headquarters and its closeness with local government affect its management of risk and its ability to deal with LDC demands. Here the author investigates the labor and investment policy changes brought about when various automotive subsidiaries interacted with national interest groups in Brazil and with the government in Mexico. Both cases illustrate how the policy response of one subsidiary creates the dynamics for defensive policy changes of its competitors. MNC managers and LDC policymakers can draw important conclusions. Originally published in 1990. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Economic and social progress requires a diverse ecosystem of firms that play complementary roles. Making It Big: Why Developing Countries Need More Large Firms constitutes one of the most up-to-date assessments of how large firms are created in low- and middle-income countries and their role in development. It argues that large firms advance a range of development objectives in ways that other firms do not: large firms are more likely to innovate, export, and offer training and are more likely to adopt international standards of quality, among other contributions. Their particularities are closely associated with productivity advantages and translate into improved outcomes not only for their owners but also for their workers and for smaller enterprises in their value chains. The challenge for economic development, however, is that production does not reach economic scale in low- and middle-income countries. Why are large firms scarcer in developing countries? Drawing on a rare set of data from public and private sources, as well as proprietary data from the International Finance Corporation and case studies, this book shows that large firms are often born large—or with the attributes of largeness. In other words, what is distinct about them is often in place from day one of their operations. To fill the “missing top†? of the firm-size distribution with additional large firms, governments should support the creation of such firms by opening markets to greater competition. In low-income countries, this objective can be achieved through simple policy reorientation, such as breaking oligopolies, removing unnecessary restrictions to international trade and investment, and establishing strong rules to prevent the abuse of market power. Governments should also strive to ensure that private actors have the skills, technology, intelligence, infrastructure, and finance they need to create large ventures. Additionally, they should actively work to spread the benefits from production at scale across the largest possible number of market participants. This book seeks to bring frontier thinking and evidence on the role and origins of large firms to a wide range of readers, including academics, development practitioners and policy makers.

"This book focuses on the uneasy interaction between a developing country traditional logic and Multinational Enterprise (MNE) economic logic, offering multidisciplinary perspectives from South America, Africa, Asia, Europe and North America"--EBL

Aiming to offer a fresh perspective on the role of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in development, Rugman and Doh challenge traditional assumptions about economic development and address the controversies that surround MNEs, for example, how they affect overall economic growth in emerging economies.

The book focuses on the major environmental implications stemming from the growth of the multinational enterprise in a multiple currency world. A survey of the background to the multinational enterprise and concluding summaries ensure that this book is one of the most widely embracing volumes available on the subject.