Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
expected from the arguments we presented in Chapters 4 and 5. Moreover,
and consistent with the investment development path thesis (IDP) dis-
cussed in Chapter 2 (Dunning 1981; Dunning and Narula 1996), global
FDI inflows into developing and transition economies are far more impor-
tant than the global outflows from such economies. While the outward
flows of FDI from developing and transition countries are increasing
rapidly, they still only account for a very small share of global FDI flows.
In addition, these inflows to developing and transition economies are still
dominated by greenfield FDI, and are therefore qualitatively very dif-
ferent to FDI flows between rich countries as discussed in Chapter 6. As
such, the observations in Chapter 8 support the argument that the types
of MNEs examined in the earlier chapters of this topic, even when they
belong simultaneously to all four broad categories described in Chapter 2,
still differentiate their strategies across different levels of economic devel-
opment and geography.
9.1
IMPLICATIONS OF OUR ANALYSIS FOR THE
THEORY OF MULTINATIONALISM
In contrast to some of the various analytical positions taken by some
observers, giant multinational corporations are nowadays often very far
from being the inflexible dinosaurs some commentators have assumed,
and instead appear now to be amongst the most flexible, adaptable and
flourishing institutions on the planet. It is not a tautology to say that it is
MNEs which benefit the most from globalization because they are already
global players. In part, this is because many such firms have become
global players since, or even well before, the advent of the modern era of
globalization which has characterized by the most recent decades. Nor is it
because MNEs are uniquely innovative that gives them their advantages.
The basic technologies of modern globalization, such as semiconductors,
computer operating systems, the Internet, the World Wide Web, and
many new generations of aircraft technologies, to name a few, were more
often than not developed by people working in laboratories subsidized
and protected from competition by nation states. And, even if we see
MNEs as diplomatic actors often capable of forcing down trade barriers
(Strange 1992; Guy 2007), it would be going too far to give them credit for
the fall of the Berlin Wall, the opening up of China, or the creation of the
EU Single Market and the Euro. While these dramatic institutional devel-
opments were amongst the most important catalysts for the modern era of
globalization, they were not precipitated primarily because of MNEs. It
is simply that technology and these events have created a space in which
