Abstract
AbstractFrom the technical analyses of wide ranges of scholars to the public discourse backlashes against globalization, there is a huge volume of work historicizing, quantifying, and problematizing the complex role of multinational corporations (MNCs) in international trade. The body of literature is so large that most readers rely on disciplinary boundaries to narrow the catalog, causing them to miss out on important synergies across fields. By bringing the work of historians, lawyers, and political scientists working on MNCs and international trade into conversation, we offer an expanded perspective. Our collective contribution highlights the political dimensions of MNCs within the frameworks of global economic governance, in which corporations seek to influence trade policies amid rising protectionism and coordinate their activities within industry associations while regulators struggle to hold MNC parent companies accountable to international human rights violations across their value chains. Especially in this moment of re-evaluation — and possible de-globalization following the shock of COVID-19 — our multidisciplinary analysis explains how MNCs exerted political power over trade regimes in the past, by what means they seek to shape regulatory frameworks in the present, and what the possible futures might be for big business operations in a more or less global economy.
Highlights
From the technical analyses of wide ranges of scholars to the public discourse backlashes against globalization, there is a huge volume of work historicizing, quantifying, and problematizing the complex role of multinational corporations (MNCs) in international trade
In this moment of re-evaluation — and possible de-globalization following the shock of COVID-19 — our multidisciplinary analysis explains how MNCs exerted political power over trade regimes in the past, by what means they seek to shape regulatory frameworks in the present, and what the possible futures might be for big business operations in a more or less global economy
Our collection of articles sheds light on multiple dimensions of the relationship of MNCs to global trade governance, with contributions that examine the ability of these powerful economic actors to mobilize politically, counterbalance global regulation, push for trade-liberalizing policies, and strategically organize their operations through global value chains (GVCs), all to their benefit
Summary
Globalization has largely been driven by multinational corporations (MNCs). In addition to the important role they play as “champions” of individual national economies, these firms have shaped an increasingly global economy through their widespread activities, facilitated by new technologies and revolutions in communication and transportation. “Dependency theorists” have examined the nature of economic power exercised by MNCs and the ways in which these transnational actors exert bargaining power vis-à-vis host states.[9] In another vein of research, economists and scholars of international political economy (IPE) have focused on the role of firms as the central unit of analysis in international trade and investment, following the seminal work of Melitz.[10] A growing body of work has focused on issues such as asymmetrical gains from trade opening, the growing fragmentation of production networks, and the political mobilization of firms in pursuit of their policy objectives.[11] Legal scholars have analyzed MNCs, focusing their attention on the difficulties surrounding regulatory governance of these international actors, jurisdictional issues affecting private claims against MNCs in the light of fragmented supply chain networks, and the implications of corporate social responsibility (CSR) for labor and human rights violations.[12] The extent to which scholars from such a wide range of disciplines have studied MNCs and their influence attests to the importance of research on this topic. Such a clear exposé offers both a strong model for further research on the establishment and activities of business associations in response to the changing landscape of global economic governance in the 1970s, as well as important lessons about the relationships between business and regulation that resonate with contemporary proposals by both corporations and governments to reshape the global economy in the wake of COVID-19
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