The Role Of Multinational Corporations Enterprises On The Nigerian Economy

Thomas Biersteker evaluates the sources of Third World economic nationalism and assesses the significance of the changes that have taken place between North and South since the early 1970s. Neo-classical and neo-Marxist approaches to international and comparative political economy are explored to develop methods and select criteria for the assessment of major change. Originally published in 1987. 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.

A Multinational Corporation is an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. By this definition, Multinational Corporations are expected to assist in the socio-economic development of the country where their businesses are striving through job creation, technology transfer and social responsibilities as appropriate. Most Multinational Corporations have failed in the development of the third world countries as elaborated in this book making reference to Peugeot Automobile and the Nigeria's economy. The Impact of Peugeot Automobile Nigeria as a case study was assessed and both the positive and negative impacts were enumerated.

Nigeria, Africa's most populated country is rich in ethnic diversity - a reason why it suffers from many conflicts. The country is one of the top five oil producers. The recent resource crisis in the Niger Delta is caused by poor division of resources, underdevelopment, and mismanagement. The failure of the young democracy would have a vehement effect in the country and in Africa as a whole. The government has to consolidate its democracy, uphold unity and sovereignty. To secure democracy it will need support from the Nigerians themselves, the multinational oil companies and the international world.

This article explores the concept of multinational corporations, their evolution, and impact on the developing economies with Nigeria in focus. Several theories of multinational enterprises were reviewed and how these theories, as well as the activities of the multinational firms, are related to the development of the Nigerian economy. Arguments put forward by different scholars were also discussed. Finally, it was recommended that for the Nigerian economy to develop, conscious actions have to be taken to move the economy from an import-dependent to an exporting economy.

Nigeria's political economy has straddled the ideological divide between socialism and capitalism. The country produces oil, and at some point in its existence, it embarked on robust state involvement in the economy. This was marked by the acquisition, or establishment, of numerous state enterprises. Over the years, the performance of these enterprises was found to be dismal, and as part of the overall reform of the economy, Nigeria has joined the global trend toward reduction in direct state ownership of enterprises. Indeed, it has embarked on massive divestment of state interests in once publicly owned firms. Besides the universal rationale of efficiency, one of the objectives of the privatization exercise in Nigeria is the attraction and retention of foreign investments. This work examines the direct and indirect linkage between the government's divestiture of its interests in firms, on the one hand, and foreign investments in the country, on the other hand. The book is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 1 reviews the political and economic history of Nigeria, to set the background and context that necessitated the introduction of the reform package of which privatization is just an aspect. Chapter 2 is a discussion of various natures of state involvement in an economy. This ranges from mere regulation to active participation. The chapter discusses the competing conceptual and ideological theories and tries to situate the Nigerian experience within the broader conceptual dichotomies of capitalism, socialism and the via media of mixed economy. Chapter 3 is an examination of the meaning and rationales for privatization of state owned enterprises generally and the Nigerian attempts in particular. Nigeria's privatization program is an ongoing exercise. Yet two distinct attempts are identifiable: one which started in 1988 and the reinvigoration of the exercise, albeit with new constitutive frameworks, in 1999. Thus, Chapters 4 and 5 review the legal and institutional frameworks for these two exercises. Chapter 6 deals with foreign investments in Nigeria. The discussion encapsulates the pros and cons of foreign investments, especially in Nigeria. Chapter 7 explores the direct and indirect linkages between the privatization program in Nigeria and foreign investments in the country. This is particularly apposite because one of the touted objectives of the privatization exercise is the attraction of foreign investments. A conclusion follows. The work finds that although foreign investments appear to have been indirectly boosted by the privatization exercise, foreign investors initially did not show interest in direct acquisition of the shares and other interests being relinquished by the government, but that that attitude has been changing gradually.