International Studies Compendium Project

Extract

Comment on this article   Transnational Corporations (TNCs) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) have long been a subject of intense interest and controversy. Political scientists, economists, sociologists, business scholars, journalists, and political activists have all contributed to an expansive and diverse literature. Prior review essays that have influenced this one include Grieco (1986) , Haggard (1989) , Caves (2003) , Navaretti and Venables (2006) , Cohen (2007) , and Dicken (2007) . New studies of FDI and TNCs continue to appear in specialized academic journals such as Transnational Corporations, Journal of International Business Studies , and Business and Politics , as well as in more general international political economy (IPE) journals. This essay will look at attempts within the field of IPE to explore and understand the international political economy aspects of FDI. For instance, what are some of the political conditions – at both the domestic and the global level – that can account for the growth of FDI? How and why have host state governments varied in their attitudes toward TNCs? How does FDI affect politics in host states, and how do these political outcomes in turn shape relations with TNCs? How can we understand the triangular diplomacy (state–state, state–firm, firm–firm) to which FDI gives rise ( Stopford and Strange 1991 )? How have states or ... log in or subscribe to read full text