ABSTRACT
Multinational corporations occupy a prominent and often controver-sial role in the global economy. When a corporation based in one country creates a new production facility in a foreign country or buys an existing one, it extends managerial control across national borders. This managerial control enables the firm to make decisions about how and where to employ resources that have consequences for the country in which it is based and for the country in which it invests. In many instances, the decisions that firms make are based on global strategies for corporate success, rather than on the basis of conditions within any of the countries in which the firm conducts its business. As a result, multinational corporations highlight the tensions inherent in an economy that is increasingly organized along global lines and political systems that continue to reflect exclusive national territories.
