ABSTRACT
Analysis of the relationship between the internationalisation of production and the economic development of the recipient nations has attracted the attention of many economists over the last decades. As the main engine of this process, the birth and subsequent rapid growth of MNEs has likewise been the focus of considerable analytical effort. Not only are these firms universally regarded as possessing the technological knowledge necessary for economic development, they are seen as the foremost agencies of the international diffusion of these technologies, or, conversely, as a major obstacle against the industrial take-off of the countries that receive FDI.
