Transnational Companies Research Articles

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ СУБ`ЄКТІВ МІЖНАРОДНОГО ПРИВАТНОГО ПРАВА: КРИТЕРІЇ ВИЗНАННЯ ФУНКЦІОНАЛЬНОЇ ПРАВОСУБ’ЄКТНОСТІ ТРАНСНАЦІОНАЛЬНИХ КОМПАНІЙ

The article is devoted to the study of the peculiarities of subjects of international private law, namely transnational companies. Attempts to regulate the activities of transnational companies are carried out both by individual states and groups of states or through international organizations. The general provision is the principle enshrined in the Charter of Economic Rights and Responsibilities of States, despite the fact that transnational companies have an international nature of activity, are legal entities, but the procedure for their creation and activity is regulated by the national legislation of each country. The article defines the essence of the peculiarities of the subjects of private international law in general, namely, it is established that they are characterized by a certain type of legal personality. Also, in relation to transnational companies, the legal nature of international agreements concluded between states and transnational corporations was investigated. The author states that the representatives of transnational companies are - enterprises that were created in accordance with the procedure provided by the legislation of a certain state; those that produce goods or provide separate services; those that carry out their activities outside the country of their main place. In addition, transnational companies have international contractual legal capacity, while others, on the contrary, emphasize the opposite statement that they have such legal capacity. The main problematic aspects of determining the international legal personality of transnational companies include: firstly, the absence of a unified view of scientists on the concept and content of "international legal personality", secondly, the legal definition of the term "transnational corporation", as in the international, as well as national legislations, which, in turn, does not provide an opportunity to know the legal nature of this subject and to unanimously attribute it to the circle of subjects of international or national law.

Leveraging digital asset management to go global

The organisational factors that enable digital asset management (DAM) teams to respond to immediate needs while simultaneously preparing to meet future goals are often external to the DAM team itself, for example: organisational values regarding the balance between immediate needs and long-term organisational objectives; the extent to which leadership has empowered the DAM team; and actionable stakeholder input in furtherance of organisational goals. This paper examines how such factors have allowed the DAM team at Cricket Media Holdings — a small transnational education company with a weak matrix organisation and a controlling project management office — to pursue its leadership’s vision of advancing education worldwide. Where the company’s execution of individual projects or initiatives has deviated from best practices, the paper provides an objective evaluation of remediation and outcomes.

Transformations of the Agricultural Frontier in Matopiba: From State Planning to the Financialisation of Land

This article explores how the agricultural frontier in Brazil is conceived and how it has been historically shaped by broader socioeconomic changes. It considers the planning process linked to the Cerrado occupation during the military dictatorship (1964–85). The article analyses understandings of the frontier that connected it to concerns about ‘demographic gaps’ and shaped an agenda of state-led ‘national integration’ that neglected local populations. This analysis is linked to recent transnational real estate activities in Matopiba to document how control over the territory persists but is now driven by different protagonists and logics. We document how Brazilian agribusinesses, in association with transnational capital, have created transnational agricultural real estate companies and acquired land in frontier areas such as Matopiba. Although the violence of expropriation and deforestation persists, there are new financial mechanisms that condition the agricultural frontier and exert control over territory, quite unlike previous forms of state-led occupation.

A multi-country analysis of transnational tobacco companies' market share.

The international tobacco market is dominated by five transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) which continue to interfere with measures to reduce tobacco consumption. The aim of this study is to better understand the current international tobacco industry market structure by providing an overview of the market share of these five companies globally. A longitudinal multi-country study design was used to understand market share trends across 90 different countries from 2011 to 2020. Descriptive analyses were conducted based on market share and market size data obtained from Euromonitor Passport. Market share (%), maximal market share (%) and cumulative market share (%) were calculated. Maps and boxplots are used to present the descriptive analyses. Median cumulative TTC market share and interquartile ranges for each year were calculated and stratified by country income level. The average maximal market share of one company in a country was 50% (IQR: 40.0-63.5) in 2020 compared to 51.5% in 2011 (IQR: 41.3-69.0). One of the five TTCs had the highest market share in 77 out of the 90 countries. Philip Morris International was the main market player in 38 countries, followed by British American Tobacco (24), Japan Tobacco International (8), Imperial Brands (6), and lastly China National Tobacco Corporation was only dominant in China. The percentage of cigarettes manufactured by one of the five TTCs remained relatively stable between 2011 (86.4%) and 2020 (85.2%). Average cumulative TTC market shares increased between 2011 and 2020 in both low- and middle-, and high-income countries. The international tobacco market is concentrated with a small number of large players, and this has not changed substantially between 2011 and 2020. The impact of this on the ability of the tobacco industry to resist policy changes is unknown but presents a cause for concern.

In between light empowerment and corporate moderate feminism

The relation between the institutional frameworks and the promotion of gender equality, considering the corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement, has been scarcely analyzed from the experiences of developing economies. We aimed to contribute to fill that gap, bringing to the debate the concepts of emancipation in organizations and support groups. We asked: in which ways, gender equality fostered by initiatives implemented in developing economies by transnational corporations in the form of support groups allow for organizational transformations that strengthen the process of women’s emancipation in the corporate world? So, an ethnography was undertaken within a transnational company of the financial sector that operates in Brazil. The results show that these initiatives can only lead to organizational transformations that strengthen women’s empowerment if they are inscribed in an institutional framework that guarantees the participation of multiple actors.

Hiring, Firing, Atomizing; Manpower Agencies and Precarious Labor in Kazakhstan's Oil Sector

AbstractThis paper analyses the influence that manpower agencies have on hiring practices and employment in Kazakhstan's oil sector. While influenced by the literature on transition from planned to market economy, this article's main argument is rooted in the understanding that labor precarization is produced through transnational capitalist practices. The influx of foreign capital through the investments of transnational companies (TNCs) also transplanted into Kazakhstan's labor market their antilabor policies and practices. This welcomed the presence of a new, dedicated actor for the establishment and curation of labor relations, namely manpower agencies, especially in the oil-rich region of Atyrau. This article argues there, the rationale for the presence of manpower agencies and the absence of trade unions is directly linked to the activities of TNCs. Manpower agencies have a decisive role in making employment and labor increasingly precarious in the oil sector. Manpower agencies function as a disaggregation force in the oil industry. Their presence stimulates a race to the bottom among workers, who have no other option but to accept precarious, unsafe, and underpaid jobs. Against this backdrop, the paper also offers a peek into “industrial gossip,” gathered during fieldwork in the Atyrau region. This more anthropological side of the argument highlights how the world of manpower agencies helps TNCs thrive by creating an atomized workforce.

Transfer pricing: the american experience and the digital revolution

The phenomenon of transfer pricing is becoming more widespread in the largest companies in different countries. However, for the first time it began to be implemented in American concerns at the beginning of the last century. The usual market mechanism was not suitable for intra-company management, which had to solve the tasks of ensuring the smooth functioning of huge corporate complexes, including many links. Nowadays, in the context of the globalization of the world economy, transnational companies have acquired great importance, within which goods and services move across the borders of all countries of the world. Therefore, transfer prices have acquired an international character and international control over their application was required to take into account the national interests of each state. In this regard, official UN and OECD documents have been issued, the tax and antimonopoly legislation of the EU and individual countries. The introduction of digital technologies has had a significant impact on the transfer pricing mechanism in the United States, in other countries and worldwide. The digital revolution has not changed the nature of transfer prices, but has expanded their functions and scope. These issues are the subject of this article

How platforms govern: Social regulation in digital capitalism

The rise of digital platforms has in recent years redefined contemporary capitalism—provoking discussions on whether platformization should be understood as bringing an altogether new form of capitalism, or as merely a continuation and intensification of existing neoliberal trends. This paper draws on regulation theory to examine social regulation in digital capitalism, arguing for understanding digital capitalism as continuities of existing capitalist trends coming to produce discontinuities. The paper makes three main arguments. First, it situates digital capitalism as a continuation of longer running post-Fordist trends of financialization, digitalization, and privatization—converging in the emergence of digital proprietary markets, owned and regulated by transnational platform companies. Second, as the platform model is founded on monopolizing regulation, platforms come into direct competition with states and public institutions, which they pursue through a set of distinct technopolitical strategies to claim power to govern—resulting in a geographically variegated process of institutional transformation. Third, while the digital proprietary markets are continuities of existing trends, they bring new pressures and affordances, thus producing discontinuities in social regulation. We examine such discontinuities in relation to three aspects of social regulation: (a) from neoliberalism to techno-feudalism; (b) from Taylorist hierarchies toward algorithmic herds and technoliberal subjectivity; and (c) from postmodernity toward an automated consumer culture.

ПРЯМІ ІНОЗЕМНІ ІНВЕСТИЦІЇ: СТАН ТА ПЕРСПЕКТИВИ РОЗВИТКУ

The article is devoted to an analysis of the state and prospects for attracting foreign direct investment into the Ukrainian economy under martial law. The essence of the concept of “foreign direct investment” explored and its characteristic features are determined. It established that in the legislative acts of Ukraine only the concept of “foreign investments” presented for consideration and their content described. The role of transnational companies at the present stage of attracting foreign investment to Ukraine outlined. A list of transnational companies operating in the domestic investment market provided. An analysis of the dynamics of foreign direct investment in Ukraine carried out based on the principle of direction. The unstable nature of cash flows revealed. It established that a significant part of foreign direct investment in the overall structure made up of those directed to Ukraine. However with the advent of war in 2022, the already not very high investment attractiveness of the Ukrainian economy decreased. This significantly complicated the economic situation in the country and significantly decreased its investment activity. An assessment was made of the scale of capital reinvestment in Ukraine through “round tripping” operations. Their unstable dynamics established and it revealed that the most significant volumes of foreign direct investment were directed to industries and institutions engaged in wholesale and retail trade. The main investor countries for round tripping operations presented, of which a significant part belongs to Cyprus and the Netherlands. Because of the study, factors identified that negatively affected the processes of foreign investment in Ukraine and related to the war and business rules. Recommendations developed that take into account general economic and institutional conditions for activating the foreign investment market in Ukraine. Separate effective mechanisms for their implementation presented. The need to formulate a state investment policy to further attract foreign investment into the Ukrainian economy for recovery after the war noted. This is due to the priority of restoring the domestic industrial and agricultural complex, increasing the country’s export potential by implementing strategies to overcome the economy’s dependence on imported energy resources, etc.

The role of the american mass media in the information warfare of the 21st century

The active spread of information and communication technologies in the 21st century has led to an unprecedented openness of the information space. Mass media got the opportunity to influence not only the internal audience, but also external consumers of media content. Such an impact began to manifest itself in many aspects: in advertising thanks to transnational companies (TNCs), in the film industry thanks to the expansion of Hollywood products, in book publishing due to the massive demand for foreign literature, and also in the formation of an information picture of the world thanks to the “international” status of a several American media (The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN). Such a scaling of the influence of the American mass media on the perception of information by the world community allowed them to reach a new level of media influence and take an active part in the information warfare, which reached a new level in the 21st century. The article examines the methods of the US mass media in the struggle for informational superiority and also analyzes the struggle of American publications for public opinion.

“Soft power” and its prospects in the context of the crisis of the state as a form and mode of human existence

The article is devoted to the concept of “soft power”, its forms and content. The term “soft power” was introduced relatively recently, but in its practical implementation it has a centuries-old history. In a certain sense, the word “soft power” has been meaningfully used since the times of the states of Ancient Rome and Ancient Iran. The article notes the ambiguity of the “soft power” policy, since its form can vary according to the interests of the state, as well as its socio-political structure. Thus, the use of «soft power» to the Soviet Unions was qualitatively different from the “soft power” used by states with a capitalist way of life. It is important to see the difference between “soft power” and economic expansion, especially since the border between them can be very conditional. An important idea of the presented article is that in the conditions of the crisis of the state as a form and way of being of a person, the influence of transnational companies is significantly increasing, which, in fact, squeeze out the state and seek to replace it with themselves. At the same time, the nature and essence of transnational corporations is very different from the nature and essence of the state, therefore, there is a process of transformation of “soft power”, filling it with new meanings and motives. If for states in their classical understanding, culture with its traditions, spiritual categories, and universal values could become the semantic content of the “soft power” policy, then for transnational corporations, the economic motive usually forms the basis of the policy. This kind of motive will easily result in the exploitation of some people by other people and the loss by society of such traits that define it as human. Thus, in the form in which the concept of “soft power” was relevant at the end of the twentieth century, it now looks like a vestige of a bygone historical era. Nevertheless, the degree of development of information technologies, the level of their accessibility can become a new content of «soft power» in the foreign policy of states.

Analysis of the activities of international companies on the ukrainian-russian market under the influence of the war

This article is devoted to the study of the nature of the reflection of such geopolitical events as the russian-Ukrainian war of 2022 in the note "events after the reporting period" of the annual financial statements of transnational companies for the year 2021. The article examines annual reports, for which the reporting period is from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021, and the russian-Ukrainian war began on February 24, 2022, the specified geopolitical event is the second type of event - an event that indicates the conditions that arose after the reporting period. Thus, according to the recommendations of the consulting company BDO and the auditing company KPMG, this event does not require the adjustment of the indicators of the annual report. Experts of the auditing company KPMG substantiated this statement by the fact that significant changes in the economic conditions of business and the political environment, as a direct consequence of the war, occurred after the end date of the reporting period. Substantial changes mean the military invasion of russia on the territory of Ukraine and, as a result, the introduction of economic sanctions against the government and business of russia and Belarus by the international community.

ВПЛИВ ПАНДЕМІЇ COVID-19 НА МІЖНАРОДНИЙ БІЗНЕС

The pandemic affected not only the functioning of the world economy, but also the international business strategies of large transnational companies. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international business are analyzed in the article. The peculiarities of the increase in the level of unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic have been studied. It is described that many sectors of the world economy have suffered losses from the pandemic. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the international labor market and the unemployment rate is analyzed. The pandemic had a significant impact on the increase in unemployment. About 5 million people lost their jobs in China in the first 2 months of 2020. The world unemployment rate in 2021 was 6.18%, which is 0.4% less than in 2020, according to the World Bank. The level of unemployment in 2019 and 2020 in various regions is characterized, among them: North Africa and Western Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and North America, Central and South Asia, etc. COVID-19 has led to massive job losses. The pandemic also affected the development of trade. After all, trade in services decreased in 2020. In general, the value of export of services in OECD countries decreased by -16.7% in 2020, which is twice the value of export of goods, which decreased by -8.2%. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant negative impact on the tourism industry. The tourism industry was one of those that was most affected by the pandemic. The tourism industry in many countries of the world has suffered great losses. It has been studied that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the import and export trends for some of the world's largest trading economies. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the investment activity of the countries of the world is characterized. Features of investment activity in 2019 and 2020 are described. It is worth noting that the Covid-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the GDP of the countries of the world. According to estimates by the International Monetary Fund, real world GDP grew by 2.8% in 2019, decreasing by 3.3% in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Глобальні тенденції міжнародного руху капіталу

The article examines the global trends of international movementof capital in the form of foreign direct investments, which were characteristic of the period of development of the world economy in 2011–2022, during which the world financial and economic crisis took place and the COVID-2019 pandemic spread internationally. The directions of international expansion of transnational companies are studied in view of their participation in the formation of global value chains, which consistently connected with each other in the global space the types of economic activities for the creation and promotion of products. Based on the analysis of international statistics data, clusters of countries were singled out, which acted in different years as the largest recipients of foreign direct investments and were in the circle of economic interests of large international business. Changes in the direction of foreign direct investment flows of leading transnational corporations are shown and their influence on the geographical localization of production processes within global value chains since the end of the 20th century until now is demonstrated. Special attention is paid to the examination of the forms and directions of international movementof capital in Asian countries, which hold the global leadership in attracting foreign direct investments. In the system of factors that influence the direction of foreign capital movement in the international space, a separate group of factors related to the effect of global transactional risks is singled out. The latter change the direction of foreign direct investment in the global economy and need to be taken into account in the formation of industrial policy by the governments of national economies.

Foreign policy in the context of modern geopolitics and its impact on the work of transnational companies in Russia

The purpose of the present research paper is to make a comprehensive analysis of the Russian foreign policy activities in terms of potential risks and possible consequences of termination, suspension of transnational companies’ activities for the Russian economy. The foreign policy of the Russian Federation makes it possible to set due priorities, define proper formats and set the course for the entire foreign policy of the state, which undoubtedly requires proper organisational and legal institutionalisation. This is why exploring the operation of transnational companies in Russia is extremely important in the current geopolitical environment which is presently being formed with a focus on the sanctions-related pressure against our state on the part of unfriendly countries. The present essay considers the statistical data on foreign multinationals that have left Russia and the measures taken by the Russian government towards adaptation and designing a due economic policy course in the conditions of market economy. The research brought the authors to a substantiated conclusion that foreign policy activities are directly and closely connected with the work of transnational corporations; therefore, the competent internal policy of the Russian Federation will enable the society and corporate entities to adapt to the new realities and to pursue the desired foreign policy activities in the country’s interests, avoiding pressure from unfriendly countries.

Optimization of Market Behavior of a Transportation Company

The relevance of optimizing the interaction of participants in manufacture and transport systems is due to the growth of the scale of social production, the development of transnational companies and international trade at the present stage of market transformations, economic integration and development of transport corridors. In this paper we will optimize the market behavior of a transport enterprise in the manufacture and transportation chain. Objectives: To determine the best option for coordinating the actions of participants in the manufacture and transport chain and to optimize the mechanism for granting discounts on the tariff of the transport company. Research methods: economic and mathematical modeling, construction and mathematical analysis of models of manufacture and transport systems, optimization computer calculations, economic interpretation of the results. In this paper it will also be analyzed how full or partial integration of the participants of manufacture and transportation chains, such as coordination of actions, unification of interests can ensure not only a significant increase in the profits of each participant, but also an increase in production volumes and delivery of products to consumers with a corresponding decrease in prices. The paper also portrays how every participant in the manufacture and transportation chain can paradoxically benefit from the established mechanism that would provide discounts on the tariff of a transport company depending on the volume of cargo flow followed by principle the more cargo, the greater the discount. It will be shown how manufacturer benefits by reducing transportation costs, while the transport company earns less per container, but the outstripping growth in the number of these containers provides it with a higher profit. Consequently, the conditions for the feasibility of applying such a mechanism of tariff discounts will also be established.

THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO THE FORMATION OF ENVIRONMENT FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Introduction. Effective development of the business environment is a key factor in the sustainable functioning of business structures. Entrepreneurial activity ensures the improvement of the social situation, solving problems related to the employment of the population, the level of income of its households, the income of regional and local budgets, levelling the centres of social tension. This determines the need for the formation of an entrepreneurial environment that ensures the improvement of the efficiency of business structures, the activation of factors of its development operating at the macro-, meso-, micro- and nano-levels. Methods. The methodological and theoretical basis of the research is the scientific provisions of fundamental and applied research in the field of economic theory, strategic management, planning and work of domestic and foreign scientists of various branches of economic science, in which the fundamental theories of the formation of the environment for the development of entrepreneurship are given. The results. The economic content of the entrepreneurial environment of the region as a complex system formed by the actions (functions) of subjects of five levels is clarified: the nano-level is formed by entrepreneurs who combine the functions of owner and manager; business owners; hired managers and employees who form the “technosphere”; the micro level is represented by enterprises and organizations interacting with them of a different institutional nature; the macro- and meso-level are formed by authorities of the corresponding levels and local self-government bodies; at the global level, the highest authorities of states, economic unions, transnational companies, economic organizations of the international level operate. The author's position is distinguished by the substantiation of the composition of the performed functions by objects of different levels that correspond to their social and economic and institutional nature, which allowed to determine the composition and nature of the influence of the factors of the development of the entrepreneurial environment of the region. Discussion. The post-war period of development of rural areas will be carried out due to the activation of the entrepreneurial initiative of the population. Accordingly, there is a task to create a favourable environment for the activation of business entities, using the levers of state and local authorities, through the introduction of direct and indirect methods of state stimulation. The formation of an environment for the development of entrepreneurship in the post-war period of the revival of the agrarian economy will require the development of a Strategy for the development of entrepreneurial initiatives of war veterans at the level of the state and administrative-territorial entities, which will involve the implementation of preferential taxation programs, grant support, etc. in the practical sphere. Keywords: entrepreneurship, environment, entrepreneurial activity, population, income.

Communication strategies of corporate social responsibility during international crises: standards and solutions

The article reveals the international aspects of communicative strategies for the functioning of corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs adopted by transnational companies. The authors consider the dynamics of CSR in the problem-chronological perspective using the methods of strategic analysis. They first trace the history of the emergence of such programs and the evaluation system created by various international and regional organizations, then analyze the dynamics of CSR programs during the COVID-19 pandemic and during the period of sanctions against Russia in 2022. The authors consider that if the challenges of 2020–2021 caused significant changes in the understanding of business responsibility to the population and strengthened the reputational factor in the CSR system, then the sanctions 2022 have demonstrated the internal contradictions of corporate responsibility programs, originally designed to ensure the well-being of the territories where these businesses are located.

Weak Investment Law Enforcement in Land and Forest Fire Cases in Indonesia

This article aims to analyze the formulation of sanctions in Indonesian investment law against foreign investors who commit environmental damage and pollution in the case of forest and land fires. This paper uses a legislative approach by analyzing the quality of legal norms on regulating sanctions for foreign investors involved in forest and land fires. The results show that the current development of global investment law requires companies, including transnational companies, to carry out environmental responsibilities in addition to social responsibility and good governance. The need to build pro-environmental investment law is important to strengthen environmental law enforcement with a multi-door approach. This is not followed by the investment law in Indonesia. The country's Investment Law does not strictly regulate sanctions against investors who violate their obligations and responsibilities to maintain the environment. The aspect of government supervision of the implementatio of investor obligations is also weak. These weaknesses in legal substance show that investment law is not in line with today's investment objectives that require support for environmental preservation or better known as green investment. This paper concludes that investment law will not be effective in supporting law enforcement in forest and land fire cases due to the lack of sanction formulation and weak supervision. Because of this, the existing investment law is still far from the goal of realizing green investment in Indonesia.

Modes of Extraction in Latin America’s Lithium Triangle: Explaining Negotiated, Unnegotiated, and Aborted Mining Projects

ABSTRACTMitigating climate change requires a global transition from fossil fuels to a “green economy” driven by renewable energies. This shift has fostered massive investments in mining resources, notably lithium in South America, needed to store renewable energies. These mining ventures often produce harmful externalities where lithium is located. In Argentina, a major producer, striking variation has occurred in the fortunes of lithium-mining projects. In some instances, mining companies offered concessions that mitigated environmental damage and improved local socioeconomic conditions. In others, companies made minimal concessions, and in a third set they halted projects in response to local resistance. Why do mining ventures result alternatively in negotiated, unnegotiated, or aborted extraction? The article proposes a new typology of modes of extraction together with a multilevel explanatory framework that centers on the strengths and strategies of transnational mining companies, subnational governments, and local communities in setting the terms for extracting lithium.