Multinational Corporations: Conflicts and Controls

Abstract

Starting with the end of the Second World War there has been a remarkable growth in multinational corporations. The current public attention to these corporations is due, at least in part, to their recent expansion and to the increasingly significant role that they are playing in both national economies and the world economy. The greatest corporate growth and national legal development have both taken place in the developed-country context. However, with growing world economic interdependence and growing sophistication of the economies of less-developed countries, the experience of developed countries is sure to be of relevance to all planners, whatever the level of their nation's economic development.

This article considers some of the types of tensions and conflicts which the existence and operations of multinational corporations create. The article begins with a brief description of the rapid growth of multinational corporations. Section II analyzes types of conflict, which for analytical purposes can be divided into three basic groups: (a) conflict between multinational corporations and host countries, (b) conflict between multinational corporations and home countries, and (c) conflicts between host countries and home countries engendered by the activities of multinational corporations. Section III describes the present pattern of controls and regulations in the important areas of export (and import) control, securities regulation, antitrust regulation, and taxation. In the final section, we give our suggestions for regulating and controlling multinational corporations in the international arena.