Abstract
We critically assess, build upon and extend the contribution of Stephen Hymer to the theory of the multinational enterprise (MNE) and international business (IB) scholarship.
We claim that Hymer was able to raise questions of fundamental importance, provide answers and proceed to predictions, mostly of superior insight. We also discuss a number of limitations of his work and conclude that despite these limitations Hymer had a powerful framework and a sharp analytical mind that allowed him to become the pioneer and indeed the father figure of the theory of the MNE, FDI and IB scholarship.
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Selected Works
Hymer, S.H. [1968] 1990. The large multinational corporation. In Multinational corporations, ed. M. Casson. Aldershot: Edward Elgar.
Hymer, S.H. 1970. The efficiency (contradictions) of multinational corporations. American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings 60: 441–448.
Hymer, S.H. 1972. The multinational corporation and the law of uneven development. In Economics and world order, ed. J.N. Bhagwati. London: Macmillan.
Hymer, S.H. 1976. The international operations of national firms: A study of foreign direct investment. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Hymer, S.H. 1979. The multinational corporation and the international division of labor. In The multinational corporation: A radical approach. Papers by Stephen Herbert Hymer, ed. R.B. Cohen et al. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Pitelis, C.N. (2018). Hymer, Stephen Herbert (1934–1974): The MNE and International Business. In: Augier, M., Teece, D.J. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-00772-8_637
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-00772-8_637
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