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 authoritative book examines the power of multinational corporations (MNCs) to exert influence in global politics. Focusing on the actions and motivations of MNCs, it explores how they attempt to shape the political issues that affect them.

Multinational Corporations in Political Environments advances and tests a theory of why foreign corporations leave host states. Theories of international business have often ignored the complexity of corporate decisions about leaving foreign countries, generally assuming that the economic and competitive reasons that prompt multinational corporations to enter host states also explain their subsequent reasons for leaving. Alternatively, this book proposes a theory of how different stakeholders' values and ethics shape multinationals' strategic leaving behaviors. Tested in South Africa when US multinationals were facing diverse pressures from stockholders, governments and consumers to leave, the research provides a prism to isolate how different stakeholders' actions influenced multinationals' behaviors. Detailed analyses of subsidiary-level archival data over a period of four crucial years revealed that the multinationals engaged in diverse forms of leaving reflecting their involvements, strategies and stakeholders' influences. The research, the first to test which stakeholders' strategies, including boycotts and sanctions, influenced multinationals and which did not, and to identify their effects on multinationals' behaviors, has enormous implications for policy makers, managers and social activists. The book also applies the findings and explores implications for recent stakeholders' attempts at influencing multinationals and governments, such as Nike in Asia and the Burmese government, through sanctions, resolutions and boycotts.

'This book should be recommended to all students of international economic policy and international business. It contains a clear and comprehensive conceptualisation of public policy on MNE allowing the classification and evaluation of country policies. The author supplies a vast amount of institutional policy details and economic data, which are interesting in their own right.' - Thorsten Posselt, Kyklos

Countries adopt policies that attract foreign multinationals, stimulate industrial clustering and foster innovation. This book links these topical issues, examining activities of multinational enterprises alongside the efficiency, appropriateness and sufficiency of such policies. With new empirical evidence, it makes practical proposals throughout.

'This is a useful addition to the literature on MNEs and a must for researchers and policymakers in the area of international business.' - C.S. Venkata Ratnam, Global Business Review In this seminal book, a distinguished group of experts pinpoint and rigorously analyse central topics in international business research. This volume will become a major reference tool for understanding the economics of multinational enterprise. The emphasis throughout is on a new dynamic research agenda, for theory, for empirical research and for public policy.