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Aspects of involvement of transnational corporations in the restructuring of the world economy
Manchester Papers on Development. 1988;4(3):327-351.
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Abstract
This paper traces important aspects of the role of transnational corporations (TNCs) in the international economy since about 1970 and examines the major consequences of these developments for the future course of the world economy. The role that TN Cs have played has been complex, simultaneously reflecting and also helping to shape major developments in the world economy. The picture that will emerge is one of both continuity and change. With respect to the continuities, they reflect processes that have been at work since the 1950s. An earlier paper (Nixson and Yamin, 1980) covering the 1960s and early-l970s pointed out that these developments could best be described as a many-sided process 'gradually resulting in a deepening internationalisation of the world economy' (p.19). Three aspects of this internationalisation were highlighted: (a) A larger number of participants in international production, (b) Sectoral widening of internationalisation, and (c) Greater intra-firm integration. In this paper we show that all these tendencies have continued and that the process of internationalisation has intensified during the 1970s and the 1980s.