Promoting infant industries in less developed countries (LDCs): A network approach to analyse the impact of the exchange relationships between multinational companies and their indigenous suppliers in LDCs' efforts to boost infant industries' development

Abstract

Promoting domestic production of certain goods/services has always been spurred by, e.g. a country's need to create job opportunities, to generate internal sources of revenue for general development, and to wean the country from its dependence on imports of goods/services which may not only exacerbate its terms of trade with other countries, but also inhibit the achievement of the other objectives mentioned above. LDCs' efforts to promote infant industries have wide coverage in the literature, yet little attention has been paid to the role certain specific actors, controlling specific resources and performing specific activities play in the success of such a developmental process. Drawing on the industrial network approach, this article seeks to deepen our understanding of the impact of the exchange relationships between multinational companies and their indigenous suppliers in the process of promoting infant industries in LDCs.