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Multinational Corporations (MNCs) are a dominant feature and structuring element of world politics today. This course is to discuss the nature, importance and emergence of MNCs, and how and why they matter and exert influence. It tends to help students develop a comprehensive and in-depth understanding about the theoretical approaches of MNCs and foreign direct investment in the context of globalization.
This second edition offers a synthesis of the determinants of multinational enterprises activity, and its effect on the economic and social well-being. Part 1 introduces the eclectic paradigm as the conceptual framework. Part 2 considers the changes in the strategy and structure of international firms. Part 3 moves on to evaluate the impact of the activities of multinational enterprises on the home and host countries in which they operate, as well as on various stakeholder groups in these countries. Part 4 addresses the national and supranational policy responses to multinational enterprises’ activity. Part 5 looks at the history of the evolution and the impact of multinational enterprises.
This handbook concerns issues such as how institutional contexts affect the nature and behavior of firms, the operation of markets, and economic outcomes. Part 1 focuses on the nature of comparative institutional analysis, variants of institutional theory, issues of actors, institutional change and institutional complementarity, as well as methodological problems. Part 2 focuses on key social institutions, understanding their emergence, and how they relate to economic organization and performance outcomes. Part 3 focuses on firms and the interrelationship between institutions and the structure and competences of firms. Part 4 identifies areas in which comparative institutionalism is developing new insights.
