ABSTRACT
For a conference in Munich in August 1992, the author prepares a lengthy study, entitled ‘Hosts to Transnational Investments – A Comparative Analysis’. The paper draws on the findings therein and expands the analysis. The author argues that national inquiries truncate the firm and that they are accordingly greatly enriched through an understanding of where an individual host fits into the overall strategies of a growing and/or contracting enterprise, as well as by how the multinational affects the unique economy of the host nation. Sometimes a way of showing contemporary impact has been to rank by sales, or assets, or market value, or employment, the largest companies within a particular host economy and count how many of these firms were foreign controlled. Robert Reich has suggested that jobs are important and that it matters not whether they are furnished by domestic or by foreign-owned firms.
