Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
2.
Old and new(er) theories of
multinational enterprises: selected
perspectives and the search for
location
2.1 INTRODUCTION
As we stated in the introductory chapter, the major questions about mul-
tinationality have typically focussed on the determinants - i.e. the
why
,
where
and
how
firms become multinational - and the effects - i.e. the
change on the economies invested in by the MNE operations and also the
impacts on the MNE firm itself which are induced by the MNE's expan-
sion and activity. The focus of the present chapter is on the geography
of the multinational enterprise as discussed in the theoretical literature.
Even though one of the core questions regarding MNEs is precisely that
of where their different operations take place, the location of MNEs has
so far been largely neglected.
The theoretical approaches discussed below are not meant to provide
an exhaustive survey of the literature on the determinants and impacts
of multinational activity, but rather to explain in broad terms how geog-
raphy and space have been dealt with implicitly or explicitly in scholarly
thinking on MNEs. Beyond those reported in the present chapter, many
other attempts to theorize multinationality find their roots in economics
and finance (e.g., Aliber 1970; Rugman 1979; Culem 1988; Kojima 1973,
1982b, 1990), as well as in other disciplines such as political economics
(e.g., Cowling and Sugden 1987a) or organizational theory (e.g., Aharoni
1966). A general aspect, however, which is often indicated as a problem
with the vast literature on MNEs, is the lack of a unifying or holistic
approach to multinational behaviour.
In the presentation of selected theoretical perspectives which are partic-
ularly interesting for our purposes here, we will make use of a well-known
broad and comprehensive framework which brings together different
theoretical building-blocks and explanations of a wide range of aspects of
multinationality. John Dunning's framework, also known as the
eclectic
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