ABSTRACT
This chapter presents new evidence on the dimensions and characteristics of foreign multinational investment in British manufacturing between 1850 and 1962. It begins with a brief review of the importance of foreign multinationals to the British economy. The chapter provides an analysis of the flow of foreign multinational investment into Britain between 1850 and 1962, followed by an examination of some of its most important characteristics at benchmark dates. During the 1980s and 1990s, the re-industrialisation by Japanese-owned companies of parts of British industry, notably motor vehicles and consumer electronics, has focused attention on the role of foreign multinationals in the British economy. Foreign-owned companies in Britain are interesting because they have exhibited a number of different characteristics from their indigenous counterparts. A series of studies of foreign multinational subsidiaries in Britain have shown their higher productivity and profitability compared to manufacturing industry as a whole.
