How multinationals contribute, or don't, to global prosperity Globalization and multinational corporations have long seemed partners in the enterprise of economic growth: globalization-led prosperity was the goal, and giant corporations spanning the globe would help achieve it. In recent years, however, the notion that all economies, both developed and developing, can prosper from globalization has been called into question by political figures and has fueled a populist backlash around the world against globalization and the corporations that made it possible. In an effort to elevate the sometimes contentious public debate over the conduct and operation of multinational corporations, this edited volume examines key questions about their role, both in their home countries and in the rest of the world where they do business. Is their multinational nature an essential driver of their profits? Do U.S. and European multinationals contribute to home country employment? Do multinational firms exploit foreign workers? How do multinationals influence foreign policy? How will the rise of the digital economy and digital trade in services affect multinationals? In addressing these and similar questions, the book also examines the role that multinational corporations play in the outcomes that policymakers care about most: economic growth, jobs, inequality, and tax fairness.

This book discusses challenges that arise for multinational companies from not having a single ‘nationality’ and being exposed to a variety of simultaneous country-specific, legally, and culturally constructed nationalities at home and abroad. Brexit, America First campaigns, Russia’s war against Ukraine, or the ever-tenser relationship between China and the US have led to raising concerns about foreign direct investments. Multinational companies are pressured to withdraw from countries and reorganise global value chains. The long-held confidence that ‘nationality’ does not matter for multinational companies in the globalised economy has dwindled. Today, companies doing business abroad are exposed to implications of their ‘nationality’ because governments and customers react upon the ‘nationality’ of a firm or a product as they did in the 20th century. The chapters in this book address many international business domains, covering political risk, liability of foreignness, cultural distance, headquarters change, and tax planning. They use different methodological approaches to analyse European and US-based MNEs in Europe, Africa, and South-East Asia from 1900 to 1980. The book argues that ‘nationality’ is not a ghost from the past in international business, it is a topic that requires substantial consideration. The chapters in this book were originally published in the journal Business History.

This book, an outcome of the conference in 1983 held at the University of Birmingham, examines the varied roles played by multinational corporations in the economies of the Third World countries and concentrates more closely on regional, national, sectoral or corporate levels.

This book studies the internationalization strategies of multilatinas, drawing on a survey-based investigation into their organizational resources and business environment.

Tracing the treatment of language in international business as represented in the Journal of International Business Studies, this seminal collection critically explores the conceptualizations of language that have been adopted or ignored by international business scholars over the years and showcases nine articles that have played an important role in establishing and advancing the field. In today’s increasingly globalized context of business, significantly richer theories from interdisciplinary perspectives are needed to explain the complexity of the interplay between multiple facets of language and how they affect day-to-day operations. With insights from linguistics, psychology and organizational theory, Language in International Business provides an assessment of scholarly efforts to uncover the profound impact that language has on global business today and proposes some important ways in which this nascent field of language in international business may be further advanced. Chapter 9 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attributtion NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. The Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS) is an official publication of the Academy of International Business and is the top-ranked journal in the field of international business. The goal of JIBS is to publish insightful, innovative and impactful research on international business. JIBS is multidisciplinary in scope and interdisciplinary in content and methodology. For more information, visit www.jibs.net. The Academy of International Business (AIB) is the leading association of scholars and specialists in the field of international business. A global community of scholars and researchers for the creation and dissemination of knowledge about international business and policy issues, the AIB transcends the boundaries of single academic disciplines and managerial functions to enhance business education and practice. For more information, visit aib.msu.edu

Readable, wide-ranging history of multinational enterprise, exploring its role in international events and influence on globalization and the modern world.

What makes a country attractive to foreign investors? To what extent do conditions of governance and politics matter? This book provides the most systematic exploration to date of these crucial questions at the nexus of politics and economics. Using quantitative data and interviews with investment promotion agencies, investment location consultants, political risk insurers, and decision makers at multinational corporations, Nathan Jensen arrives at a surprising conclusion: Countries may be competing for international capital, but government fiscal policy--both taxation and spending--has little impact on multinationals' investment decisions. Although government policy has a limited ability to determine patterns of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, political institutions are central to explaining why some countries are more successful in attracting international capital. First, democratic institutions lower political risks for multinational corporations. Indeed, they lead to massive amounts of foreign direct investment. Second, politically federal institutions, in contrast to fiscally federal institutions, lower political risks for multinationals and allow host countries to attract higher levels of FDI inflows. Third, the International Monetary Fund, often cited as a catalyst for promoting foreign investment, actually deters multinationals from investment in countries under IMF programs. Even after controlling for the factors that lead countries to seek IMF support, IMF agreements are associated with much lower levels of FDI inflows.