ABSTRACT
For any individual locality, this play of choice may make all the difference between the expansion or full closure of the local branch of a multi-plant firm or TNC (Fothergill and Guy, 1990). This decision is, however, influenced by the organisational framework of the firm (Peck and Townsend, 1984, 1987). Let us assume that a local planner or politician (and I am both) wishes to understand the likely future dynamics of the local branch of a TNC. Ile or she needs not just to identify the statistical category in which the plant falls, but to study the economic pressures on the financial decisionmaking unit of which it is a part. Which division of the parent company controls the plant? How close is it to the central head office? When was it acquired? (More recently acquired subsidiaries and branches have been found more vulnerable to closure in both Britain and the USA; Howland, 1988).
