Multinational Firms And Impacts On Employment Trade And Technology

This collection of essays shows the high degree of complementarity between foreign direct investment and home export, challenging the long held fear that firms investing abroad leads to a loss of employment and decline in the home country.

Monograph on the role of USA based multinational enterprise and influence on international relations - covers historical origins, social role, labour relations, technology transfer, taxation, ethics, balance of payments, international organization and mechanisms for control and regulation, etc. Bibliography pp. 322 to 326, references and statistical tables.

We estimate international technology spillovers to U.S. manufacturing firms via imports and foreign direct investment (FDI) between 1987 and 1996. In contrast to earlier work, our results suggest that FDI leads to substantial productivity gains for domestic firms. The size of FDI spillovers is economically important, accounting for about 11 percent of productivity growth in U.S. firms between 1987 and 1996. In addition, there is some evidence for import-related spillovers, but it is weaker than for FDI spillovers. The paper also gives a detailed account of why our study leads to results different from those found in previous work. This analysis indicates that our results are also likely to apply to other countries and periods.

Depending on one's point of view, multinational enterprises are either the heroes or the villains of the globalized economy. Governments compete fiercely for foreign direct investment by such companies, but complain when firms go global and move their activities elsewhere. Multinationals are seen by some as threats to national identities and wealth and are accused of riding roughshod over national laws and of exploiting cheap labor. However, the debate on these companies and foreign direct investment is rarely grounded on sound economic arguments. This book brings clarity to the debate. With the contribution of other leading experts, Giorgio Barba Navaretti and Anthony Venables assess the determinants of multinationals' actions, investigating why their activity has expanded so rapidly, and why some countries have seen more such activity than others. They analyze their effects on countries that are recipients of inward investments, and on those countries that see multinational firms moving jobs abroad. The arguments are made using modern advances in economic analysis, a case study, and by drawing on the extensive empirical literature that assesses the determinants and consequences of activity by multinationals. The treatment is rigorous, yet accessible to all readers with a background in economics, whether students or professionals. Drawing out policy implications, the authors conclude that multinational enterprises are generally a force for the promotion of prosperity in the world economy.

Aimed at senior undergraduate and post-graduate students following courses in International Business and Industrial Relations this book examines the labour market effects of multinational business. In reflecting the complexity and dynamism of developments in this area, the book makes clear the need to underpin analysis of the labour market effects of multinational business with conceptual understanding of the theory of multinational enterprise.

Monograph presenting an overview of the influence and role of multinational enterprises, with particular reference to the role of USA-based firms - covers the impact of multinationals on employment, technology transfer, the USA balance of payments, taxation, national sovereignty of the State, etc. Bibliography pp 280 to 284, references and statistical tables.