Abstract
Transnational corporations (TNCs) are playing a key role in the ongoing globalization process. Their strategies largely determine volume and nature of trade flows, foreign direct investments and financial flows. The determinants of these strategies are themselves rather complex. They take into account not only costs factors and specific assets of countries but also a complex nexus of network externalities and national routines as well as their own know-hows which, contrary to some beliefs, are still largely influenced by their country and trade of origin. This last feature appears in the composition of their board, in the form of their internal organization as well as in the nature and geography of the transactions in which they are the more competitive.2 The diversity of these determinants suggests an eclectic approach to the organizational issue that TNCs represent, as Dunning (1988) advocates. The study of TNCs as organizations has developed steadily since the 1960s, when their role and ‘eclectism’ became firmly documented (see Hymer, 1960; Penrose, 1959). Their evolution in the past two decades towards more decentralized, networklike structures is also a widely admitted stylized fact (Dunning, 1988, 1993; Delapierre and Michalet, 1989) which constitutes a major feature of the present globalization process. In this perspective the specific role of TNCs in services is less ascertained.
CEPREMAP/CNRS — 142 rue du Chevaleret — Paris 75013.
tel.: 33 1 40778427; fax.: 33 1 44243857;
Email.: Petit@Cepremap.msh-Paris.FR
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Antonelli, C. (ed.), 1992. The Economics of Information Networks. Amsterdam: North Holland.
Boyer, R. and D. Drache, 1996. States against Markets: the Limits of Globalization. London: Routledge.
Cantwell, J., 1989. Technological Innovation and Multinational Corporations. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Cares, R. 1982 ‘Multinational Enterprise and Economic Analysis’ Cambridge Surveys of Economic Literature, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
CEPII, 1997. L’Economie mondiale 1994. Paris: La Découverte, coll. Calmann Lévy.
Chesnais, F., 1994. La mondialisation du capital. Paris: Syros.
Clairmonte, F. F. and J. Cavanagh, 1984. ‘Transnational Corporation and Services: The Final Frontier’, Trade and Development, no. 5.
Clairmonte, F. F., 1991. ‘Les services, ultimes frontières de l’expansion pour les multinationales’, Le Monde Diplomatique, January.
Daniels, P. W., A. Leyshon and N. J. Thrift, 1987. Internationalization of Professional Producer Services: The Case of Large Accountancy Firms, Working paper, University of Bristol and Service Industries Research Center, Portsmouth Polytechnic, March.
Daniels, P. W., 1994. ‘Internationalization of advertising services in a changing regulatory environment’, mimeo University of Birmingham, Service Sector Research Unit.
Delapierre, M. and C. A. Michalet, 1989. ‘Vers un changement des structures des multinationales: le principe d’internalisation en question’, Revue d’Economie Industrielle, no. 47, premier trimestre.
Dunning, J. H., 1981. International Production an the Multinational Enterprise. London: George Allen and Unwin.
Dunning, J. H., 1988. ‘The Eclectic Paradigm of International Production: A restatement and some possible extensions’, Journal of International Business Studies, 19, Spring.
Dunning, J. H., 1988a. Multinationals, technology and competitiveness. London: Unw in Hyman.
Dunning, J. H. (ed.), 1988b. Explaining International Production. London: Unw in Hyman.
Dunning, J. H., 1989. Transnational Corporations and the Growth of Services: Some Conceptual and Theoretical Issues. UNCTC Current Studies, Series A, no. 9. New York: United Nations.
Dunning, J. H., 1990. ‘The Internationalization of the production of services: Some general and specific explanations’. Reading and Rutgers Universities, mimeo, October.
Dunning, J. H., 1993. The Theory of Transnational Corporations. London: Routledge.
Edvardsson, B., L. Edvinsson and H. Nystrom, 1993. ‘Internationalization in service companies’. The Service Industries Journal, vol. 13, no. 1, January.
Emmot, B. 1992. Japan’s Global Reach. London: Century Business.
Erdilek A. (ed). 1985. ‘Multinational as Mutual Invaders’. Kent: Groom Helm.
Graham, E. M., 1978. ‘Transatlantic Investment by Multinational Firms: A Rivalistic Phenomenon?’ Journal of Post-Keynesian Economics, no. 1.
Graham, E. M., 1985. ‘Intra-industry Direct Foreign Investment, Market Structure, Firm Rivalry and Technological Performance’, in A. Erdilek (ed.).
Guelle, F., 1989. ‘L’internationalisation de la R-D des grands groupes japonais’, Revue d’Économie Industrielle, premier trimestre.
Fransman, M., 1995. ‘Is national technology policy obsolete in a globalized world? The japanese response’, Cambridge Journal of Economics, January.
Hagedoom J. and J. Schakenraad, 1990. ‘Interfirm partnerships and Cooperative Strategies in Core Technologies’, in C. Freeman and L. Soete, New Explorations in the Economics of Technological Change, London: Pinter Publishers.
Hippie, F. S., 1990. ‘Multinational companies and international trade: The impact of intrafirm shipments on US international trade’, Journal of International Business Studies, vol. 21.
Hippie, F. S., 1990. ‘The measurement of international trade related to multinational companies’, The American Economic Review, 80, December.
Hirst, P. and G. Thompson, 1996. Globalization in Question. London: Polity Press.
Holmstrom B. 1985. The provision of services in a market economy in Inman R. P. (ed). ‘Managing the Service Economy’. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hufbauer, G., D. Lakdawalla and A. Malani, 1994. ‘Determinants of direct foreign investment and its connection to trade’, UNCTAD Review.
Humbert, M. (ed.), 1993. The Impact of Globalization on Europe’s Firms and Industries. London: Pinter Publishers.
Hymer, S., 1960. The International Operations of National Firms: A Study of Direct Foreign Investment. Cambridge MA: MIT Press.
Hymer, S. and R. Rowthorn, 1970. ‘Multinational corporations and international oligopoly: The non-american challenge’, in C. P. Kindleberger (ed.), The International Corporation: A Symposium. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Kozul Wright R. 1995. Transnational Corporations and the Nation State, in J. Michie and J. G. Smith (eds).
Kojuma K. 1973. A Macroeconomic Approach to Foreign Direct Investment. ‘Horosubashi Journal of Economics’, Tokyo: 14, June.
Kregel J., 1994. ‘Capital flows: globalization of production and financing development’, UNCTAD Review.
Landesmann, M. and P. Petit, 1995. ‘Trade in producer services: International specialization and european integration’, The Service Industries Journal, Spring.
Laubier, J. de, 1988. ‘La percée des services dans les investissements internationaux’, Economie Prospective Internationale, troisieme trimestre.
Michalet C. A. 1985. ‘Le capitalisme mondial’ Paris: P.U.F.
Michie, J. and G. Smith, (eds) 1995. Managing the Global Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
O’Brien, R., 1992. Global Financial Integration: The End of Geography, London: Pinter Publishers.
OECD, 1991a. Technology and Productivity: The Challenge for Economic Policy. Paris: OECD.
OECD, 1992. La Technologie et l’économie: les relations déterminantes. Paris: OECD.
OECD, 1993. Services: Statistiques sur les échanges internationaux, 1970 1991. Paris: OECD.
OECD, 1994. ‘International Direct Investment’, Statistics Yearbook, Paris: OECD.
Ohmae, K., 1985. Triad Power. New York: The Free Press.
Ohmae, K., 1990. The Borderless World. London: Collins.
Oman, C., 1994. Globalization and Regionalization: The Challenge for Developing Countries. Development Center OECD.
Penrose, E., 1959. The theory of the growth of the firm. Oxford: Blackwell.
Petit, P., 1994. ‘Formes de services et modes d’internationalisation des économies’, in J. De Bandt and J. Gadrey (eds) Relations de Services, Marchés de Services. Paris: Editions CNRS.
Reich, R., 1990. ‘Who is US?’, Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb.
Reich, R., 1992. The work of nations. Vintage Books.
Sauviat, C., 1990. ‘Services et compétitivité: une relation équivoque’, contribution présentée à la conférence TEP sur la technologie et la compétitivité, Paris, La Villette, Juin.
Sauviat, C., 1994. ‘Le conseil: un marché réseau singulier’, in J. De Bandt and J. Gadrey (eds), Relations de services, marchés de services. Paris: Editions CNRS.
Sauviat, C., 1995. ‘Les réseaux internationaux de services: le cas du conseil et de l’audit’, Rapport MESS, IRES Institut Recherches Economiques et Sociales, Paris, Avril.
Thuillier, J. P., 1993. Transformations de l’offre de services; internationalization et concentration, Cahiers du LAR, Université de Rouen, Mission d’études des problèmes du secteur des services, Ministère de l’Industrie Paris.
UNCTAD/TNC, 1991. World Investment Report 1991, The Triad in Foreign Direct Investment. New York: United Nations.
UNCTAD/TNC, 1992. World Investment Report 1992: Transnational Corporations as Engines of Growth. New York: United Nations.
UNCTAD/TNC, 1993a. World Investment Report 1993: Transnational Corporations and Integrated International Production. New York: United Nations.
UNCTAD/TNC, 1993b. The Transnationalization of Service Industries. New York: United Nations.
UNCTAD/TNC 1994a. Liberalizing International Transactions in Services. New York and Geneva: United Nations.
UNCTAD/TNC, 1994b. The Tradeability of Banking Services: Impacts and Implications. New York and Geneva: United Nations.
UNIDO, 1990. Industry and Development, Global Report, 1990/91, Vienna: UNIDO.
US Department of Commerce, 1993. Foreign Direct Investment in the US: An Update. june, Washington Economics and Statistics Administration Office of the Chief Economist.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1998 The United Nations University/World Institute for Development Economics Research
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Petit, P. (1998). Transnational Service Corporations in the Process of Globalization. In: Kozul-Wright, R., Rowthorn, R. (eds) Transnational Corporations and the Global Economy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-26523-7_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-26523-7_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-26525-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-26523-7
eBook Packages: Palgrave Economics & Finance CollectionEconomics and Finance (R0)