Improving the developmental impact of multinational enterprises: policy and research challenges

Rajneesh Narula and André Pineli
Additional contact information
André Pineli: University of Reading

Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, 2019, vol. 46, issue 1, No 1, 24 pages

Abstract: Abstract We summarize the key empirical evidence on the nexus between MNEs and development, focusing on issues that are relevant for the formulation, implementation and assessment of policies by host developing countries. We also delve into what we do not know, as well as topics for which the evidence is still quite blurred. We discuss the reasons for the absence of clear evidence, and potential avenues for future research to improve policies. Although most countries rely on MNEs/FDI as a central plank of their development strategy, the collective weight of academic research has not led to a fine-tuning of policy implementation. Countries still rely on policies for which evidence is sparse, or no longer valid in an era of globalisation. Much of the literature has focused on externalities and spillovers, and has deemphasised the other ‘effects’ of MNE activity, implicitly assuming that MNEs are almost always beneficial for development. Few rents are costless when the opportunity costs of scarce resources are considered, especially in the longer term. Despite the abundance of empirical studies (of increasing sophistication), most ignore the significance of structural change. Growth and the interaction with MNE activity is not linear or monotonic over time, because the economy itself is in a constant state of flux.

Keywords: Multinational enterprises; Economic development; Developing countries; GDP growth; Spillovers; Public policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D62 F23 O14 O19 O24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (25)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40812-018-0104-2 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
Working Paper: Improving the Developmental Impact of Multinational Enterprises:Policy and Research challenges (2018)
Working Paper: Improving the developmental impact of multinational enterprises: Policy and research challenges (2018)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:epolin:v:46:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s40812-018-0104-2

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/40812

DOI: 10.1007/s40812-018-0104-2

Access Statistics for this article

Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics is currently edited by C. Cambini, M.G. Colombo, L. Piscitello, L. Rondi and A. Zanfei

More articles in Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics from Springer, Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().