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Transnational Corporations, Technology and Economic Development

Backward Linkages and Knowledge Transfer in South East Asia

9781840649079 Edward Elgar Publishing
Axèle Giroud, Professor of International Business, University of Manchester, UK
Publication Date: 2003 ISBN: 978 1 84064 907 9 Extent: 384 pp
This innovative book provides a greater understanding of the relationships between transnational corporations and the economic development of host economies. In the age of globalisation, awareness of the mechanisms through which foreign firms impact on host countries is crucial. The emphasis lies on backward linkages and knowledge transfer to local firms. The book offers a theoretical framework for the activities of TNCs and a review of their impacts on South East Asian economies.

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Contents
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This innovative book provides a greater understanding of the relationships between transnational corporations and the economic development of host economies. In the age of globalisation, awareness of the mechanisms through which foreign firms impact on host countries is crucial. The emphasis lies on backward linkages and knowledge transfer to local firms. The book offers a theoretical framework for the activities of TNCs and a review of their impacts on South East Asian economies.

The author conveys in-depth information, using extensive data collected from transnational corporations in the Malaysian electrical and electronics sector. A unique approach is adopted by presenting factors explaining the existence as well as the degree of knowledge transfer through backward linkages. To date, no other study has provided a full range of data – qualitative and quantitative – on the existence, as well as the degree, of backward linkages’ transfer.

Academics, practitioners and students of international business studies, international development and Asian studies will find Transnational Corporations, Technology and Economic Development of great interest, as will business school libraries in European, North American and Asian universities.
Critical Acclaim
‘In a meticulously researched and insightful study, Dr Axèle Giroud has provided a valuable contribution to the literature on the role of transnational corporations (TNCs) in technology transfer and, thereby, the development process. Of course, there are many studies on technology transfer, but few look in so much detail at the nitty-gritty of inter-corporate relations and the contingent, delicate and intricate web of relationships underlying the processes of knowledge transfer. The book focuses on the linkages between TNCs and local suppliers and, by showing which factors explain the existence and degree of knowledge transfer, Dr Giroud illuminates a sorely neglected area of research.’
– Hafiz Mirza, University of Bradford, UK

‘This is a very impressive text indispensable for those who want to better understand the linkages between transnational corporations, technology transfer and economic development. Axèle Giroud’s comprehensive analysis on this topic presents the reader with useful theoretical insights, new conceptual syntheses and detailed empirical material. Furthermore, she manages to convey the more technical and complex aspects of the subject matter in a clear and concise fashion. The various schematic diagrams deployed throughout the text are especially helpful in this respect. Giroud’s research is based on a rigorous combination of questionnaire surveys, semi-structured interviews and interesting case studies drawn from the Malaysian electrical and electronic sector. Overall, this is a fine piece of scholarship.’
– Christopher M. Dent, University of Leeds, UK
Contents
Contents: 1. Introduction 2. TNCs and Backward Linkages in Host Countries: A Theoretical Approach 3. TNCs and their Impact in Host-Developing Economies: The Case of ASEAN Countries 4. Developing Favourable Environment for Backward Linkages: Malaysia, Foreign Direct Investment and the Electrical and Electronics Sector 5. Research Methodology and Design 6. Research Findings: Case-by-Case Analysis 7. Factors Explaining Existence and Degree of Knowledge Transfer 8. Conclusion References Index
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