The Free-Standing Company in the World Economy, 1830-1996

Edited by Mira Wilkins and Harm Schröter

The Free-Standing Company in the World Economy, 1830-1996

Edited by Mira Wilkins and Harm Schröter

Description

Distinct from the classic multinationals, free-standing companies were those companies established in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to organize and manage operations for a European parent company. Leading international scholars here provide evidence and analysis of the operations of free-standing companies, draw comparisons with the "American model" multinational enterprise, and make a valuable contribution to the understanding of modern economic history.

The Free-Standing Company in the World Economy, 1830-1996

Edited by Mira Wilkins and Harm Schröter

Part I: Introduction: Background, Theory, and Controversies
1. The Free-Standing Company Revisited, Mira Wilkins
2. Transaction-Cost Theory and the Free-Standing Firm, Jean-François Hennart
3. An Economic Theory of the Free-Standing Company, Mark Casson
4. The Free-Standing Company, in Theory and Practice, T. A. B. Corley
Part II: Countries and Regions that were Host to Free-Standing Companies
5. Free-Standing Companies in Italy, 1883-1912, Peter Hertner
6. British Free-Standing Companies in Tsarist Russia, Natalia Gurushina
7. British Free-Standing Companies and Investment Groups in India and the Far East, Stanley Chapman
8. British Free-Standing Companies on the West Coast of South America, Rory Miller
9. British Free-Standing Companies in Mexico, 1884-1911, Reinhard Liehr and Mariano E. Torres Bautista
10. A French Free-Standing Company in Brazil's Sugar Industry: A Case Study of the Société de Sucreries Bresiliennes, 1907-1922, Tomás Szmrecsányi
Part III: Countries that were Homes to Free-Standing Companies: General and by Sector
11. Dutch Free-Standing Companies, 1870-1940, Ben P. A. Gales and Keetie E. Sluyterman
12. Continental European Free-Standing Companies: The Case of Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland, Harm Schröter
13. British Overseas Banks as Free-Standing Companies, 1830-1996, Geoffrey Owens
14. US Foreign Direct Investment in Electric Utilities in the 1920s, William J. Hausman and John L. Neufeld
15. The Montreal Engineering Company and International Power: Overcoming the Limitation of the Free-Standing Utility, Gregory P. Marchildon
Part IV: Conclusion
16. The Significance of the Concept and a Future Agenda, Mira Wilkins

The Free-Standing Company in the World Economy, 1830-1996

Edited by Mira Wilkins and Harm Schröter

Reviews and Awards

"..a very lively volume that reflects the divergent opinions and viewpoints of eighteen leading scholars in the field of multinational business. It really is a hard volume to put down once one picks it up. [...] ...a masterful introduction to the subject and the issues by Wilkins. [...] The range of concerns raised by the concept attests to its value and must attract a wide readership to this volume. Those interested in institutional economics will find the theoretical chapters and the case studies particularly stimulating. The book will be useful to scholars of multinational enterprises of all types, international business, and of course, business and economic history. The volume will also serve as a teaching tool for showing advanced students how leading authorities develop questions and refine their methods of inquiry while they grapple with the implications of a new concept."--EH.NET

"A gem....This is economic history at its best."--Enterprise & Society