1st Edition

Multinational Firms The Global-Local Dilemma

Edited By John Dunning, Jean-Louis Mucchielli Copyright 2002

    At the turn of the century, questions about multinational firms' strategies as regards the forces, on the one hand, of globalization and, on the other hand, of the regional and local dimensions are very much to the fore. What are the new constraints and the new theories to explain global-local multinationals' strategies at the beginning of this new era?
    Understanding multinationals' strategies is an essential task, but the range of strategies is not simple or homogenous; they are increasingly complex, the outcomes of different logics and different choices. Since the 1980s, new economic areas have been created - the EU, MERCOSUR, ASEAN, NAFTA - there has also been the integration of Eastern European countries following the lifting of the iron curtain. A real movement of regional integration has been witnessed in these areas, which has modified firms' strategies. But simultaneously there has been another factor: the global or regional dimension is one determinant, but there is also the local dimension, for example in production siting.
    This volume presents the work of internationally renowned specialists on multinational strategy, addressing the main questions about globalization, firms' and countries' competitiveness, the impact of regionalism, agglomeration and industrial clustering, oligopolistic interactions, mode of entry, strategic location choice and relocation and public aid. This book is the first volume presenting the outstanding work from the Seventh Sorbonne International Conference on Multinational Firms' Strategies.

    Part I: Where Do We Stand? 1. Multinational Enterprises and the End of the Global Strategy 2. Location Determinants of Multinational Firms: the Effects of Firms' Strategic Choices of the WTO Trade-Investment Regime 3. The International Competitiveness of the UK: is it Eroding or Rather Chaging Form? Part II: Globalization and Regional Integration 4. Regional Economic Integration between the EU and Central and Eastern Europe: the Impact Upon FDI and Trade 5. The Locations of US Multinational Firms in the European Community: Determinants of US Foreign Direct Investment into the EC, 1951-1990 6. The Impact of European Integration on FDR: The UK Food Industry in the 1990s 7. The Governance Structure of Japanese Subsidiaries in Western Europe and Evidence Part III: Location Strategies 8. Hierarchical Location Choice and Multinational Firms' Strategy, a Nested Logit Model Applied to Japanese Investment in Europe 9. The Geographic Concentration of FDI in Asia 10. Relocation and Public Aid: a First Report 11. Clusters, Innovation and Growth: a Comparative Study of European Countries

    Biography

    John Dunning, Jean-Louis Mucchielli