Multinational Enterprises In Latin America Since The 1990s

This volume provides an original analysis of the role of foreign firms in the structural reforms implemented by the Latin American governments since the 1980s with a focus on the making of the Spanish multinational enterprise.

This title was first published in 2001. This informative volume gives penetrating insight into why multinational enterprises (MNEs) headquartered in Spain invested so heavily in Latin America in the 1990s. This is an invaluable resource for scholars of international political economics, international relations, economics, business and development studies and those with an interest in Spain and Latin America.

Original theory of MNE activity and responsibility

Multinational enterprises are particularly strong in Latin America and sensitive to political and economic changes there - the currently emerging debt crisis is likely to have far-ranging effects. This book considers multinationals in Latin America, both those from inside and those from outside the region, and discusses the major issues relating to them, e.g. trans-national regulation and the government/business relationships. It sets the discussions against the background of other work and theories of multinational enterprise. Novel features include the development of the author's bargaining theory of multinational enterprise and the attempt to create a systematic method for evaluating MNE acceptability for host governments (an important consideration since the relationship between multinationals and governments, particularly the way a government perceives a multinational, is crucial). The book concludes by assessing current trends and likely future developments.

Investments by Spanish firms in Latin America have grown since the early 1990s by taking over many of the state-owned firms put out to tender. Second only to the United States, these investments make Spain one of the largest markets of foreign direct investment for Latin America. This multidisciplinary volume focuses on the emergence of Spanish multinational enterprises in this region. Furthermore, it analyzes the sociological and political consequences of these investments and exhibits several theoretical and methodological approaches that make the book a useful aid for teaching. It is essential reading for those who want to understand structural reforms, their consequences and the international impact of economic reform.

Foreign Direct Investment from emerging economies reached $130 billion in 2005, the highest level ever recorded. The number of multinationals from emerging economies in the global Fortune 500 has increased from 19 in 1990 to 47 in 2005, with about ten of them coming from Latin America. This book focuses on understanding this new phenomenon.

They headed?: Raymond Vernon