Multinational corporations and economic inequality in the Global South

Multinational corporations (MNCs) have increasingly linked countries of the Global South to global markets through a complex mix of intra- and inter-organisational networks. For some, they hold the promise of providing host countries with new opportunities to accelerate growth and development. Yet, as will be illustrated in this chapter, MNCs also pose challenges to and impose constraints on economic management. Most notably, the distribution of gains for workers at the bottom relative to those at the top of MNC supply chains is often not equitable in terms of income relative to worker productivity nor does the treatment of workers often meet basic criteria for decent work.