The role of multinational enterprises in globalization: an empirical overview

The activities of multinational enterprises drive the economic globalization process to a very large degree. This paper lists some facts about their dominant role in all channels of globalization. Therefore, the importance of multinational enterprises in foreign direct investment and production abroad is examined as well as their contributions to the international transfer of knowledge and technology and to foreign trade. It is argued that economic theory must account for multinationals' activities in the analysis of the globalization process.