This book brings together papers written by representatives from UN agencies and academics who take a fresh look at the expanding role of transnational corporations and foreign direct investment in the world economy. These papers deal with such issues as the nature and extent of globalisation, the shifting relations between transnational corporations and national economies, and the opportunities and obstacles facing policy makers in the rapidly changing global economy.

'This is a timely volume, the contents of which offer a welcome and thought provoking perspective on the interaction between the globalising economy and transnational (or multinational) corporations...well researched and incisively written. I enjoyed, and benefited from, the book immensely...This is a volume which covers a lot of ground and deserves to be widely read. It pinpoints a whole set of important issues which are likely to confront politicians, academic scholars and business leaders over the next half century or more.' - John H. Dunning, The Journal of Development Studies

Preface - Notes on the Contributors - Introduction: TNCs and the Global Economy; R.Kozul-Wright & R.Rowthorn - PART 1: GLOBALISATION IN PERSPECTIVE - Globalisation Myths: Some Historical Reflections on Integration, Industrialisation and Growth in the World Economy; R.Kozul-Wright & P.Bairoch - The Limits of Globalisation; W.Milberg - Multinational Corporations: An Historical Analysis; M.Wilkins - Transnational Service Corporations in the Process of Globalisation; P.Petit - Direct Foreign Investment, Transnational Corporations and Growth: Some Empirical Evidence and a North-South Model; A.Dutt PART 2: TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS, THE STATE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - TNCs and Third World States: From the Old Internationalisation to the New; P.Evans - TNCs and Industrial Strategy; H-J.Chang - TNCs and the Nation State; M.Panic - PART 3: LESSONS FROM RECENT EXPERIENCE - New Trends in Japanese Trade and FDI: Post-Industrial Transformation and Policy Challenges; Y.Akyuz - Internationalization of Industrial Firms: Implications for Domestic Growth and Industrial Structure in Small Open Economies; P.Braunehjelm & P.Yla-Antilla - Transnational Corporations in Central and Eastern Europe and in the Former Soviet Union: A Return or a New Beginning?; M.Simai - International Trade, Outsourcing and Labour: A View from the Developing Countries; E.Amadeo - TNCs and Industrial Restructuring: The Case of the Mexican Automobile Industry: M.Mortimer - Index