Abstract
This chapter suggests that, for a variety of reasons, there is likely to be a renaissance of critical writing on the multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the first decade of the new millennium. The chapter first revisits the critical literature on MNEs of the 1950s to 1970s, in order to refresh our minds on the basis for that criticism. It then suggests a number of areas on which criticism is likely to focus — the strategy of multinational firms, bargaining power of multinationals versus the state, development issues, the decline of competition, and distributional issues (affecting unskilled workers in particular). These are old concerns, but the problems are emerging in new ways because of the new configuration of the globalizing economy.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Barnet, R. J. and Muller, R. E. (1975) Global Reach: the Power of the Multinational Corporations. London: Jonathan Cape.
Bergsten, C. F., Horst, T. and Moran, T. H. (1978) American Multinationals and American Interests. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
Boddewyn, J. J. (1992) ‘Political Behaviour Research’. In P. J. Buckley (ed.), New Directions in International Business. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Brewer, T. L. (1993) ‘Foreign Direct Investment in Emerging Market Countries’. In L. Oxeiheim (ed.), The Global Race forForeign Directlnvestment. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Buckley, P. J. (1996) ‘Government Policy Responses to Strategic Rent-seeking Transnational Corporations’. Transnational Corporations, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 1–17.
Buckley, P. J. and Carter, M. J. (2000) ‘Capturing Value from Internationally Dispersed Knowledge in Multinational Firms’. Long Range Planning (forthcoming).
Buckley, P. J. and Casson, M. (1976) The Future of the Multinational Corporation. London: Macmillan.
Buckley, P. J. and Casson, M. (1991) ‘Multinational Enterprises in Less Developed Countries: Cultural and Economic Interactions’. In P. J. Buckley and J. Clegg (eds), Multinational Enterprises in Less Developed Countries. London: Macmillan.
Buckley, P. J. and Ghauri, P. N. (1994) The Economics of Change in East and Central Europe. London: Academic Press.
Cantwell, J. A. (1989) Technological Innovation and the Multinational Enterprise. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Casson, M. (1994) ‘Enterprise Culture and Institutional Change in Eastern Europe’. In P. J. Buckley and P. N. Ghauri, The Economics of Change in East and Central Europe. London: Academic Press.
Chandler, A. D. (1977) The Visible Hand: the Management Revolution in American Business. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Chandler, A. D. and Redlich, F. (1961) ‘Recent Developments in American Business Administration and their Conceptualization’. Business History Review, Spring, pp. 103–28.
Contractor, F. (1991) ‘Government Policies toward Foreign Investment: an Empirical Investigation of the Link between National Policies and FDI Flows’. Paper presented at the Annual meeting of Academy of International Business, Miami.
Dunning, J. H. (1991) ‘Governments and Multinational Enterprises: from Confrontation to Cooperation’. Millennium, vol. 20, pp. 225–44.
Dunning, J. H. (1992) ‘The Political Economy of International Production’. In P. J. Buckley (ed.), New Directions in International Business. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Dunning, J. H. (1994) ‘Re-evaluating the Benefits of Foreign Direct Investment’. Transnational Corporations, no. 1, pp. 23–51.
Eden, L. and Molot, M. A. (1993) ‘Insiders and Outsiders: Defining “Who is Us” in the North American Automobile Industry’. Transnational Corporations, vol. 2, pp. 31–64.
Flowers, E. B. (1976) ‘Oligopolistic Reaction in European and Canadian Direct Investment in the US’. Journal oflnternational Business Studies, vol. 7, pp. 43–55.
Ghauri, P. N. (1999) ‘Relationship Games: Creating Competitive Advantage through Cooperation’. In S. Urban (ed.), Relations of Complex Organizational Systems. Wiesbaden: Gabler, pp. 59–84.
Hymer, S. (1976) The International Operations of National Firms: a Study of Direct Foreign Investment. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) (1997) The State in a Changing World: World Development Report1997. Washington: IBRD, p. iii.
Jenkins, R. (1999) ‘The Changing Relationship between Emerging Markets and Multinational Enterprises’. In P. J. Buckley and P. N. Ghauri (eds), Multinational Enterprises and Emerging Markets: Managing Increasing Interdependence. Pergamon.
Knickerbocker, F. T. (1973) Oligopolistic Reaction and Multinational Enterprise. Boston: Harvard University.
Krugman, P. (1994) ‘Does Third World Growth Hurt First World Prosperity?’ Harvard Business Review, July-August, pp. 113–21.
Lenway, S., Morck, R. and Yeung, B. (1996) ‘Rent-seeking, Protectionism and Innovation in the American Steel Industry’. Economic Journal, vol. 106, pp. 401–21.
Penrose, E. T. (1956) ‘Foreign Investment and the Growth of the Firm’. Economic Journal, vol. 66, pp. 220–35.
Pfefferman, G. P. and Madarassy, A. (1992) ‘Trends in Private Investments in Developing Countries’. International Finance Corporation, discussion paper No. 14. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
Porter, M. A. (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations. New York: Macmillan.
Prahalad, C. D. and Lieberthal, K. (1998) ‘The End of Corporate Imperialism’. Harvard Business Review, vol. 76, no. 4, pp. 69–79.
Reich, R. (1990) ‘Who is us?’ Harvard Business Review, vol. 68, no. 1, pp. 53–65.
Stopford, J. M. and Strange, S. (1991) Rival States, Rival Firms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Strange, S. (1996) The Retreat of the State: the Diffusion of Power in the World Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Strange, S. (1997) ‘The Erosion of the State’. Current History, November, pp. 365–9.
Streeten, P. (1974) ‘The Theory of Development Policy’. In J. H. Dunning (ed.), Economic Analysis and the Multinational Enterprise. London: George Allen and Unwin.
UNCTC (1992) The Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment: a Survey of Evidence. London, New York: United Nations.
UNCTAD (1998) World Investment Report. Geneva: UNCTAD.
Vernon, R. (1966) ‘International Investment and International Trade in the Product Cycle’. Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 80, pp. 190–207.
Wells, L. T. (1998) ‘Multinational Enterprises and Developing Countries’. Journal of International Business Studies, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 101–14.
Copyright information
© 2004 Peter J. Buckley
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ghauri, P.N. (2004). Globalization and the End of Competition: a Critical Review of Rent-seeking Multinationals. In: The Challenge of International Business. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230508644_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230508644_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-51166-2
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-50864-4
eBook Packages: Palgrave Business & Management CollectionBusiness and Management (R0)