The Multinational Traders

This book is a detailed account of the evolution and theory of multinational trading companies. The book features contributions from an international selection of US, European and Asian economists and business historians which demonstrate the importance of trading companies in trade and investment flows in the world economy from the nineteenth century to the present. The authors adopt evolutionary and comparative perspectives to examine diversification strategies and organizational structures.This innovative study provides a major new dimension to our knowledge of the history and theory of international business.

List of Figures List of Tables List of Contributors Preface 1. Multinational Trading Companies Geoffrey Jones 2. The Economic Analysis of Multinational Trading Companies Mark Casson 3. From Regional Trade to Global Shipping: Mackinnon Mackenzie & Co within the Mackinnon Enterprise Network J. Forbes Munro 4. The German Metal Traders before 1914 Susan Becker 5. Dutch Multinational Trading Companies in the Twentieth Century Keetie E. Sluyterman 6. British Trading Companies in South America after 1914 Robert Greenhill and Rory Miller 7. Trading Companies in Twentieth Century Sweden Hans de Geer 8. The Development of Swiss Trading Companies in the Twentieth Century Sebastien Guex 9. French Trading Companies in Subsaharan Africa 1960-1990 Helene d'Almeida-Topor 10. Japanese General Trading Companies and 'Free-standing' FDI after 1960 Kenichi Yasumuro 11. Is Efficiency Compatible with History? Evidence from Japanese General Trading Companies Tom Roehl 12. Why do Traders Invest in Manufacturing? Jean-Francois Hennart and Georgine M. Kryda

Geoffrey Jones