Introduction

Abstract

As key players in globalization, international businesses have interconnected the wealthy and impoverished areas of the world. An increasing number of firms from industrialized areas are engaged in the two-thirds world, to extract valued minerals and petroleum, to manufacture goods, to purchase products and produce from local suppliers, and to sell consumer products and services. The results have been ambiguous; in many cases, low-income people in the two-thirds world now live somewhat less impoverished lives. A positive outcome, however, is not automatic. In other settings, international businesses operations have aggravated the poverty of the poor. Either way, business operations merit close examination. Industrialized countries invest far more wealth in developing areas through business connections than through aid programmes. It therefore matters a great deal what kinds of practices international businesses follow.