The role of TNCs in the global economy. Positive and negative aspects of the activities of TNCs

12.10.2019

What is TNK? 100 largest multinational corporations. The first TNCs and the conditions for their emergence. The expansion of the transnational sector of the economy in the 90s. TNCs in developing countries.

The role of TNCs in the process of internationalization

What is TNK?

The process of transnationalization is considered as a process of expanding the international activities of industrial firms, banks, service companies, their going beyond the national borders of individual countries, which leads to the development of national companies into transnational ones. It is characterized by the interweaving of capital through the absorption of firms in other countries, the creation of joint companies, the attraction of funds from foreign banks, the establishment of strong long-term ties abroad with industrial companies and banks of the same country.

TNCs account for approximately half of world industrial production and 63% of foreign trade. TNCs control up to 80% of patents and licenses for new equipment, technologies and know-how. TNCs control 90% of the world market for wheat, coffee, corn, timber, tobacco, jute and iron ore, 85% for copper and bauxite, 80% for tea and tin, 75% for crude oil, natural rubber and bananas. Half of the US export operations are carried out by American and foreign TNCs, in the UK this figure is 80%, in Singapore - 90%.

UN experts classify any company with production facilities abroad as a TNC.

TNCs are a special form of organization of the economic activity of a company based on the cooperation of labor of employees of enterprises located in different countries of the world and united by a single title of ownership of the means of production, and such activities are aimed at suppressing competition and strengthening dominance in world commodity markets, which is the essence of economic policy TNK.

Distinctive features of TNCs are: the huge scale of ownership and economic activity; a high degree of transnationalization of production and capital as a result of the growth of foreign production activities; the special nature of socio-economic relations within TNCs; the transformation of the vast majority of TNCs into diversified concerns.

An analysis of the nature of socio-economic relations within TNCs leads to the conclusion that in modern conditions, international concerns have become the predominant type of associations, within which diversified complexes have been created. This is due and due to a number of reasons, among which the most important are: increased concentration of production and capital, the impact of scientific and technological progress, which contributed to the emergence of many new primary industries, the diversification of production, the transition to a decentralized structure in management, the development of a personal union and a system of participation. , strengthening financial and other ties within individual firms and financial groups.

The high degree of transnationalization of production and capital was the result of a sharp expansion of foreign production and marketing by the leading TNCs. Creating foreign manufacturing enterprises, TNCs focus primarily on penetrating the markets of developed countries. On average, the share of income from foreign activities per one largest corporation accounts for 40%.

The importance of TNCs in international production, trade, finance and in all other areas is constantly increasing. The core of the world economic system is made up of about 100 TNCs, which have concentrated practically unlimited economic power in their hands and secured about a third of all foreign capital investments.

100 largest multinational corporations

According to UNCTAD, these leading concerns in 1996 controlled a fortune of 4 trillion. dollars, of which at least a third was outside the home country. At the same time, individual corporations have huge property abroad. Thus, the Anglo-Dutch corporation "Royal Dutch Shell" has property abroad for 69 billion dollars, the American corporations "General Motors" and "Ford" respectively for 41 and 28 billion dollars, and the Dutch corporation "Philips" abroad owns property in the amount of 22 billion dollars. In addition, IBM, Exxon, Hitachi are among the largest foreign assets.

All 100 largest corporations are located in industrialized countries. But as the world economy develops, the place of individual TNCs in this hundred is changing. So, in 1971, there were 58 American ones in the list of 100 largest transnational corporations, and in 1993, according to UNCTAD, almost two times less. According to the same data, there are 38 transnational corporations in the EU and 168 in Japan. Thus, we can conclude that over the past two decades, the struggle between various transnational corporations for dominance in certain international regions has intensified. At the same time, firms from other countries have noticeably pressed the positions of US transnational corporations. However, despite the decrease in the number of American TNCs in the list of 100 largest transnational corporations, American companies still form the basis of all ratings of transnational firms.

The list of 100 largest TNCs is characterized by the following:

the largest group is made up of American TNCs;

the fastest growing TNCs are Japanese;

European TNCs occupy the most significant positions in such knowledge-intensive industries as pharmaceuticals and chemicals.

The first TNCs and the conditions for their emergence

The first international associations of enterprises arose in the 60-80s. 19th century in the field of mining, procurement and marketing of mineral raw materials. Then international associations appear on the world stage, associated with the production and sale of military-technical products.

In the late 50s - early 60s. the direction of international companies is changing. The expansion of the sphere of application of the forces of large industrial companies leads to the fact that international cartel-type associations, characteristic of the first half of the 20th century, have given way to international concerns and other powerful manufacturing firms guided by the idea of global expansion. These neoplasms consider the entire world economy as a sphere of their economic interests.

In general, various factors play a decisive role in the formation of corporations in different countries: in the USA - financial capital, in Japan - mutual ownership of shares, as well as the presence of their own information, trading, financial, transport capacities, in South Korea and Japan - coordination and state support.

The emergence of international production formations of a new type is a natural result of the development of the processes of international division of labor and industrial cooperation.

The increased concentration of production and capital, both at the national and international levels, was accompanied by the acquisition of national and foreign enterprises that retained their economic and legal independence and were connected through a system of participations, agreements on common interests, personal unions, financing, industrial and scientific and technical cooperation. This process largely reflects the desire of TNCs to diversify production and is accompanied by the separation into independent production departments of industries that are heterogeneous in nature.

The transnationalization of production and capital has become not only a direct condition for the functioning and development of TNCs, but also a factor determining, to a certain extent, the pace and proportions of the development of the entire world economic system. As the role of the foreign economic sphere in the activities of TNCs increases, it becomes an increasingly effective factor in their economic growth.

The expansion of the transnational sector of the economy in the 90s

The number of TNCs is constantly increasing: for example, if in the early 70s, according to the UN data on transnational corporations (currently the most complete and most comprehensive in this sector of the world economy), there were about 7 thousand TNCs in the world, and at the beginning of 80 -x - 13 thousand, then in 1997 their number increased to 44,508 such structures, which controlled more than 276 thousand affiliated companies. At the same time, more than 80% of parent companies and about 1/3 of affiliated companies were located on the territory of industrialized countries, 19.5% and almost 50%, respectively, in developing countries, and approximately 0.5% and 17% in the former socialist states. These data allow us to conclude that the dynamics of globalization is “gaining momentum”.

Usually, TNCs expand their international activities by acquiring or creating new companies, organizing joint ventures, or entering into other types of associations. Moreover, for these operations it is not necessary to resort to the export of capital and the reinvestment of profits earned abroad - you can absorb a foreign company by obtaining a loan at the place of the transaction for its acquisition. Other methods of aggregating assets and acquiring control are also used (for example, appropriation of local fixed capital to pay off debt).

Therefore, data on international capital movements do not give a complete picture of how multinational corporations are expanding their activities. And yet, this is the most reliable information about the pace of such expansion, as well as about the industries and areas where capital is directed. Thus, in 1996, according to UNCTAD experts, the size of outgoing foreign direct investment (FDI) amounted to 347 billion dollars, and TNCs invested more than 1.4 trillion dollars. The difference is covered by the funds of the money market of the countries receiving investments and from various international sources.

A very important phenomenon in the 1990s was the mergers and acquisitions of companies (while there were relatively few new ones). A special role in this is given to the strategy of competition, according to which in many industries the market share was increased or attempts were made to win an exclusive position by absorbing competitors. In accordance with this strategy, the corporation must also quickly mobilize huge capital.

Transnational corporations, by forming interethnic production complexes, get the opportunity to make wider use of the advantages of the international division of labor and international cooperation of production and to exert a profound influence on the entire nature of international economic relations, including the state of world trade.

Expanding the scope of its activities allows TNCs to have the following advantages:

TNCs use in their own interests not only natural and human resources, but also the scientific and technical potential of other countries;

TNCs penetrate the markets of other countries and, becoming "their own", bypass the customs barriers of foreign countries;

having branches in different countries, TNCs overcome the limitations of the home market of home countries;

TNCs increase the size of enterprises and the scale of their products to the most profitable level.

According to data for the first half of the 1990s, almost 90% of the world's FDI stock was in the hands of the parent companies of the industrialized countries, with representatives of the USA, France, Great Britain, Germany and Japan holding 60%. However, the scope of their actual control is much wider, since management contracts and other forms of participation must be taken into account. At the end of the 1990s, control meant the involvement of an affiliated company or venture enterprise in the strategic planning system of the parent structure, subordinating it to financial and investment programs. However, in recent years, many international corporations transfer a considerable share of managerial responsibility to their affiliated companies dispersed in different countries.

In 1996, 71% of the world's FDI went to the industrialized countries (32 to the EU countries and about 20 to the US), about 27% to the developing countries and 2% to the former socialist states.

More than half of foreign direct investment came from the top 100 corporations. In 1996, the value of their assets amounted to approximately $4.1 trillion, of which $1.7 trillion (ie, about 40%) was invested abroad.

In the 1990s, the scale of expansion of the scope of activities of TNCs increased significantly due to:

the fall of the "iron curtain" from the Eastern European and post-Soviet economic spaces;

accelerating the globalization of financial markets;

intensification of privatization processes;

deepening the interdependence of a number of countries and national economies;

increased competition;

regional integration processes and the resulting new opportunities for the movement of capital;

the emergence of new technologies, especially in the field of communications and telecommunications.

The purpose of TNCs is the desire for dominance in the global economic system

However, despite the huge number of TNCs operating on the world market, the level of its monopolization is extremely high. This is especially noticeable in knowledge-intensive industries, which is explained by the need for these industries in huge investments and highly qualified personnel.

The result of a high degree of internationalization of production among the largest TNCs was the establishment of their dominance in the world commodity markets and in the leading sectors of the world economy. The decisive role of giant monopolies in the world market is determined by the fact that they occupy a dominant position not only in production and commercial exports, but also in the trade in patents and licenses, the provision of technical services, the implementation of contract work, since the bulk of scientific research is concentrated in their hands. - technical achievements and advanced manufacturing experience.

Since monopoly capital is interested primarily in the development of those industries where it can secure a sufficiently profitable position for itself, i.e. industries with high labor productivity, technical equipment of production, high level organization and management of production, relatively low production costs, daily capital investments on an international scale are carried out precisely in such industries. And this distorts the proportions of social production and leads to an even greater aggravation of the contradictions both between the giants themselves and between them and the non-monopolized sector. This shows the further development of monopolistic relations in modern conditions, which make it possible to more fully reveal the essence of TNCs, their desire for dominance in the world economic system and the subordination of small and medium-sized non-monopolized production to their interests.

A specific feature of monopolistic relations in modern conditions is that TNCs are able to take into account the needs of the market and, to a certain extent, form demand for products before their production begins. This indicates that the dominance of TNCs in world markets is developing as their dominance in world production.

Monopolistic relations within the framework of the world market act not only as a sphere of manifestation of the essence of TNCs, but also as a result of its functioning and development. Since the realization of monopoly superprofits becomes possible only with a conscious limitation of the size of production, both in comparison with the existing social demand for this product, and with the production possibilities already created, the framework created by monopolistic regulation becomes necessary condition existence of the monopoly relations themselves.

TNCs in developing countries

Transnational corporations also receive benefits as a result of benefiting from the difference in the economic situation of the countries where their capital is invested. Having branches and subsidiaries in other countries, TNCs get the opportunity to:

gain advantages by concentrating one or another production in countries with cheap raw materials and low wages;

plan and receive profits in different countries depending on the level of income taxation;

adapt their production and marketing schemes in relation to the specific conditions of the national markets of different countries;

implement accounting policies for the operations of subsidiaries and branches that are beneficial to the central company.

The influence of transnational corporations on the economy of individual states is sometimes really impressive. This is especially true for developing countries. Usually, TNCs transfer labor-intensive, energy-intensive and material-intensive industries, as well as environmentally hazardous industries to these countries.

In developing countries, as a rule, there are:

Branches and subsidiaries of TNCs engaged in the development of raw materials in developing countries through the extraction and primary processing of raw materials. Despite the fact that some developing countries have nationalized the assets of TNCs in the primary industries, large industrial companies still maintain a dominant position in the world production and marketing of fuel and raw materials. Thus, according to the UN, only 15 TNCs control 70% of world exports of rubber and oil, more than 80% of copper, bauxite and tin, over 90% of timber and iron ore.

Branches and subsidiaries of TNCs focused on the development of import-substituting production in developing countries. They were developed in connection with the strategy of industrialization of national economies that was established in developing countries, which required a significant increase in the production of machinery and equipment.

Branches of TNCs aimed at the development of export-oriented production. Given the low prices of local raw materials and low wages, international firms create enterprises in developing countries that produce products for export to their home countries or to other countries.

TNCs with subsidiaries and affiliates in the countries of Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico are poorly connected with the domestic markets of these countries, use little local raw materials and semi-finished products, and the vast majority of their products are exported abroad. For Brazil, South Korea and some other countries, the opposite situation is typical, since here TNC enterprises are quite closely integrated into the local economy. In this case, the host countries derive great benefits from the activities of foreign capital, both in terms of the development of productive forces and the modernization of socio-economic structures.

TNCs currently control up to 40% of the total industrial production of developing countries, half of their foreign trade. At the same time, the rate of return on direct investment in developing countries is on average twice as high as in industrialized countries.

The influence of TNCs on the process of accumulation in developing countries is ambiguous. Foreign companies usually have more potential investment opportunities than local firms. In a number of countries and territories, they have become important sources of expanded reproduction. The expansion of capital inflows in the form of direct investment was accompanied by structural changes in the Third World. This was reflected in the growth in the share of capital investment in the manufacturing industry, including machine building and petrochemistry. The positions of TNCs in the production and export of certain types of raw materials are significant.

TNCs are often criticized both by developing countries for exploiting cheap labor and by Western trade unions for the fact that TNCs, by moving production to less developed regions of the planet, deprive citizens of industrialized countries of jobs. This circumstance allows us to conclude that the process of globalization of such a factor of production as labor is just beginning.

In reality, TNCs often imposed on developing countries an industrial structure of production that did not meet their interests, wastefully exploited their natural resources, polluted the environment, and also pumped a significant part of the profits to their home countries.

In connection with the above, the UN decided on the need to develop a universal code of conduct for TNCs regulating their activities, which indicates that the processes of transnationalization of production and capital as part of economic globalization need to be adjusted and monitored from the outside, since they do not have a built-in control mechanism.

As practice shows, the absence or weakening of control by the host state over the activities of TNCs leads to negative consequences for this country. This happens when the increase in the foreign sector is carried out through the absorption of local companies, the mobilization of capital from local sources. One of the acute problems of developing countries is the outflow of capital, the transfer of profits to industrialized countries, which significantly narrows the base of national accumulation, and hence social reproduction.

Despite the general trend towards greater compliance of TNC policies with the needs of developing countries, the impact of TNCs on technological progress in these countries is ambiguous. Even in industrialized countries, technology transfer is rather limited, except for the production of electronics, semiconductors and telecommunications equipment. The transfer of new technologies is observed in some cases by developing countries and is related to electronics and telecommunications. In these industries, TNCs transfer new technologies to companies that are wholly owned by them. Developing countries' domestic demand for electronics products is largely met through subsidiaries of TNCs. The exceptions are some countries in East Asia, Brazil and India, where the production of these products has grown significantly in local enterprises. The bulk of TNC investment in electronics in developing countries is in the assembly and production of components at "offshore" enterprises. Although the organization of such assembly enterprises does not provide for significant technology transfer, the production of science-intensive products, not only for household, but also for industrial purposes, is gradually expanding.

The impact of TNCs on the socio-economic structures of developing countries to a large extent depends on the ability of the latter, determined by the general level of development, to find effective forms and methods of using TNCs in their national interests.

TNK employs 150 million people

In accordance with UN estimates, in the early 1990s, TNCs directly or indirectly provided work (created jobs) to 150 million people, and directly - 73 million, which is equivalent to 10% of the total number of people employed in modern non-agricultural production. Of these, almost 60% are employees of parent companies, 40 - their various foreign entities. More than half of TNC workers employed abroad worked in industrialized countries and 47% in developing countries.

In the early 1990s, $1 million in investment provided about 30,000 jobs in developing countries and about 11,000 in industrialized countries. In multinational corporations, with the exception of the United States, the number of employees abroad increased faster than in the home of the parent company. In developing countries, 1/3 of those employed in TNCs worked in free trade zones that produce export products. More than 2/3 of foreign employees of affiliated companies were involved in industrial production, about 30% - in the service sector, the rest - in the extractive industries.

Using the labor force of different countries, TNCs impose universal requirements on it and, thus, play an important role in the internationalization of the labor market and the formation of unified international qualification standards.

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INTRODUCTION

The modern world economy is a system of economic relations between different countries and regions of the world based on the international division of labor.

The modern world economy operates in the context of globalization, which is new level and type of internationalization of production.

Modern TNCs, in addition to the existing international exchange of goods and services, have created international production and the financial sector, contributing to the transformation of mostly local (intercountry, regional) international economic relations into global ones. Because of their transnational structure, they can benefit from international differences in business cycles, economic policies, tax and customs levels, inflation rates, wage rates, productivity, demand patterns, and so on.

TNCs play a leading role in the internationalization of production, an increasingly widespread process of expanding and deepening production ties between enterprises in different countries.

The main factor in the effectiveness of TNCs is the international production of goods and services, which is the output of parent companies of TNCs and their foreign affiliates based on the internationalization of production.

The relevance of the research topic is determined by the fact that in modern conditions, transnational corporations have become the main driving force of globalization.

The purpose of this work is to study the role of TNCs in the global economy.

1. TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS IN THE WORLD ECONOMY

transnational corporation world economy

M.N. Osmova and A.V. Boychenko note that an important component of the internationalization process and one of the main sources of globalization is transnationalization, in which a significant proportion of production, consumption, exports, imports and income of the country depends on international centers outside the state Globalization of the world economy / ed. M.N. Osmova, A.V. Boychenko.- M., 2011.- P.182.

A transnational corporation is a large association that uses an international approach in its business activities and involves the formation and development of an international production, marketing, trade and financial complex with a single decision-making center in the home country and with branches, representative offices and subsidiaries in other countries economic relations / ed. R.K.Schenina, V.V. Polyakova.- M., 2013.- P.172.

R.K. Shchenin and V.V. Polyakov notes that transnational corporations have gone through several stages in their development and therefore they can be divided into five generations.

The first generation of TNCs (from the period of their inception at the end of the 19th century to the start of the First World War of 1914-1918). In form, these TNCs were cartels and syndicates.

The second generation of TNCs developed in the period between the two world wars (1918-1939). They were engaged in the most profitable production of weapons and military equipment to meet the military needs of the leading countries of Europe, America and Japan.

The third generation of TNCs began to take shape after the end of World War II (1945) and especially after the collapse of all empires and their colonial systems (1950-1960). TNCs of the third generation were generators and distributors of scientific and technological achievements in the field of the latest branches of science and industry (atomic energy, electronics, space, instrument making, etc.).

The fourth generation of TNCs gradually began to form in 1970-1980. in the conditions of the development of accelerated scientific and technological progress and world economic relations under the influence of increasing competition in the world market, which was under the threat of a peaceful division, without the start of a new world war.

The fifth generation of TNCs appears and begins to purposefully develop at the beginning of the 21st century. In the context of accelerating processes of regional economic integration, especially in Europe (EU), North (NAFTA) and South (MERCOSUR) America, Asia (ASEAN and APEC). The existence of integration associations in the world and the creation of regional common economic spaces by them open up wide opportunities for the conduct of international economic relations by TNCs. World economy and international economic relations / ed. R.K.Schenina, V.V. Polyakova.- M., 2013.- P.173.

The continuously growing and ever-deepening trade, economic, financial, monetary, scientific, technical and production ties between modern TNCs make it possible to speak of the global nature of their activities.

M.V. Pashkovskaya and Yu.P. Gospodarik believe that TNCs go through mergers and acquisitions to form strategic alliances with a change in the form of ownership. Mergers and acquisitions of companies are a daily practice in any country. In doing so, certain economic benefits are pursued. Transnational corporations brought this process to the world levelPashkovskaya M.V., Gospodarik Yu.P. World Economy.- M., 2011.- P.96.

Mergers and acquisitions of TNCs have three strategic goals:

1) To achieve, through the unification of production, a significant reduction in production costs as the basis for the subsequent win in the competition.

2) Get a benefit from the "scale effect".

3) Reach the level of production and sale of global products.

In addition to the noted positive consequences of strategic alliances of TNCs, they also bear whole line negative traits. The consolidation of corporations leads to a significant narrowing, impoverishment of competition in world markets, to the formation of an oligopolistic model of the world economy. Oligopoly - dominance in the market by several large companies. It is easier for firms - oligopolists to agree (within the framework of a secret or informal collusion, within the framework of cartel agreements) on price gouging, on determining the volume of production and sales.

The international approach of TNCs is defined as follows. If in the early stages foreign production was episodic, then later it became a determining factor for TNCs. Moreover, for some modern TNCs, especially Swiss ones, foreign operations account for over 90% of their production and marketing activities.

To understand for what purpose in the second half of the XX century. the intensive development of TNCs in the world began, R.K. Schenin, V.V. Polyakov believe that: there are a number of sources of effective activity of TNCs in comparison with companies operating in only one country.

These include:

the benefits of owning and accessing natural resources, capital and research and development (R&D) results;

horizontal diversification into different primary industries or vertical diversification according to the technological principle within the same industry, which in both cases ensures the economic stability and financial stability of TNCs;

the possibility of optimal distribution of enterprises of the parent (parent) company in different countries, taking into account the size of their national markets, economic growth rates, prices, availability economic resources as well as political stability;

the reality of the rapid accumulation of capital within the entire system of TNCs, including borrowed funds in the countries where foreign branches are located, and its application in the most favorable circumstances and places for the corporation;

the prospect of increasing the efficiency and strengthening the competitiveness of TNCs, which are common to all large industrial firms that integrate completely different enterprises into their structures;

close proximity to consumers of the products of a foreign branch of a TNC and the possibility of obtaining reliable information about the prospects for the development of local markets and the competitive potential of similar companies in the host country;

providing an opportunity to use in the interests of TNCs the state foreign economic policy in various countries;

the growing ability to extend the life cycle of technologies and products of TNCs, "dumping" them as they become obsolete to foreign affiliates and concentrating the resources of TNC divisions on the development of new technologies and products in the parent company in the home country;

the ability, through direct investment, to overcome various barriers to the introduction of their goods into the market of a particular country through exports;

wide use of financial resources of many countries of the world;

the optimal organizational structure of the entire corporation, which is under the close attention and control of the management of TNCs and is constantly being improved. World economy and international economic relations / ed. R.K.Schenina, V.V. Polyakova.- M., 2013.- P.175.

TNCs are the main exporters of capital in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI). The export of capital makes, by definition, a company transnational, according to M.N. Osmova and A.V. BoychenkoGlobalization of the world economy / ed. M.N. Osmova, A.V. Boychenko.- M., 2011.- P.187.

To classify corporations as transnational, the following criteria are usually used:

the number of countries where the corporation operates (at least two to six countries);

a certain minimum number of countries where the corporation's production facilities are located;

a certain size that the corporation has reached;

minimum share of foreign operations in the income or sales of the corporation (usually 25%);

international composition of personnel and senior management of the corporation.

To assess the level of transnationalization, corporations use an appropriate index, which is the average of the following three indicators: the ratio of foreign assets to total assets, foreign sales to total sales, and the number of employees abroad to the total number employed in the corporation.

2. THE LARGEST TNCs IN THE WORLD, THEIR ROLE AND COMMON POSITIONS

At the beginning of the 21st century, there are more than 85 thousand TNCs and 850 thousand of their branches in the world. Parent companies are located mainly in developed countries (50.2 thousand), most of the branches are in developing countries (495 thousand). About half of world industrial production and foreign trade is concentrated in TNCs. They control approximately 80% of patents and licenses for inventions, new technologies and know-how. World economy and international economic relations / ed. R.K.Schenina, V.V.Polyakova.- M., 2013.- P.176.

Taking into account tens of thousands of TNCs operating on the world market, the level of monopolization is extremely high.

This is especially noticeable in knowledge-intensive industries, which is explained by the need for these industries in multibillion-dollar investments and a mass of highly qualified personnel.

The largest TNCs are usually located in developed countries. Thus, the twenty largest corporations in terms of turnover include TNCs from the USA, Japan, the Netherlands, France and the UK (Table 1).

Table 1 - The largest corporations in the world

Company		Sales volume, billion dollars	Net profit, billion dollars
Royal Dutch Shell	Netherlands / UK
"ExhopMobil"
"Walmart stores"
	Great Britain


SoposoPhilips
	Netherlands

toyota motor

The largest TNCs in the world were formed in the fuel and energy complex, namely in the oil production sector.

trend recent years is the increase in the share of corporations in developing countries in the production of oil and gas in the world, as evidenced by the data in table 2.

Table 2 - The largest TNCs in the world in the field of oil and gas production in terms of market value and turnover (billion US dollars, as of 2011) World economy and international economic relations / ed. R.K.Schenina, V.V.Polyakova.- M., 2013.- P.179

Company		Market price


	Brazil
Royal Dutch Shell	Great Britain



	Great Britain
ConocoPhillips

As can be seen from the table above, oil and gas corporations occupy key positions in the overall ranking of the world's largest companies in terms of market capitalization. The role of corporations in developing countries, in particular China and Brazil, as well as Russia, is growing.

In the world oil and gas markets, the merger of TNCs has always been one of the cheapest ways to replace reserves and increase competitiveness.

Over the past five years, two-thirds of the 15 largest oil companies in the world have been involved in mergers and acquisitions to one degree or another.

Table 3 shows the largest mergers among TNCs in the global oil market.

Table 3 - The largest mergers among TNCs in the world oil market World economy and international economic relations / ed. R.K.Schenina, V.V.Polyakova.- M., 2013.- P.181

In general, since most of the oil TNCs in the developed countries of the world have a solid government stake, this is the determining factor in the expansion of these companies to developing countries, in particular, to the Middle East.

In other sectors of the global fuel and energy complex, the most representative is the production of electricity, where mainly companies from developed countries are represented, but only the French company EDF, whose turnover in 2010 amounted to 87 billion dollars, is included in the top 100 TNCs. This company currently serves the electricity supply 25 million houses in France and has 18 nuclear power plants in the country. Similar TNCs have formed in other countries (for example, Enel in Italy, Iberdrola in Spain, NTPC in India, but against the background of other, more powerful TNCs, their role is insignificant.

The machine-building complex is one of the largest in the world industry, it includes dozens of sub-sectors, but the largest TNCs in it were formed in only a few industries.

Thus, the main TNCs in the global automotive industry are in three countries - the USA, Japan and Germany. China and South Korea are beginning to play an increasingly important role in the production of cars and trucks.

The global aerospace industry is dominated by US companies. The leading company United Technologies is diversified and produces not only aviation products, but also partly military equipment. The position of the United States in the production of electrical and electronic products, both in the hardware sector and in the production of software products, is also undeniable. In addition, the largest TNCs in the world engineering industry include such giants as General Electric (general engineering) and Caterpillar (heavy engineering). The next one of the significant branches of the world industry is the metallurgical complex, which is dominated by both mining and metal smelting companies, mainly steel. In the world chemical industry the largest TNCs are concentrated in two sub-sectors - the pharmaceutical industry and the production of polymers. Corporations in the food industry also play an important role among key TNCs, the structure of which is quite diverse today. Unfortunately, to date, among the largest Russian TNCs there are exclusively raw materials companies, such as Gazprom, Novolipetsk Iron and Steel Works, Norilsk Nickel, Novatek, Gazpromneft and Severstal.

3.TRANSNATIONAL BANKS IN THE WORLD ECONOMY

The main partners of transnational corporations in international business over the past century and a half have become transnational banks (TNB), which originated in the same developed countries as TNCs and underwent a long and complex evolution in parallel and even together with TNCs. The latter could never achieve economic independence and global influence if they acted independently, without the support and reliance on the international banking system, consisting of numerous transnational banks. different origin and with varying degrees of transnational branching.

A transnational bank is understood as a large bank that has reached such a level of international concentration and centralization of capital, which, thanks to merging with industrial capital (TNC), implies its real participation in the economic section of the world market for loan capital and credit and financial services.

In its activities, TNB takes an international approach to the formation and development of its transnational network of branches, branches and representative offices with a single decision-making center in the parent bank's home country.

Transnational banks went through several stages of formation, which coincided mainly with the stages of development of TNCs:

the first stage - the end of the 19th - the beginning of the 20th century. before World War I (1914-1918);

the second stage - from the end of the First World War (1918) to the beginning of the Second World War (1939).

During the periods of world wars, international financial activity slowed down somewhat, and between the belligerents, ts ceased altogether;

the third stage - the end of the Second World War (1945) - the 1970s, when the post-war recovery of the economies took place, including the banking systems, the collapse of the world colonial system and the construction of new economic relations with developing countries, requiring the formation of new international banking structures;

the fourth stage falls on the 1980-1990s, when there was a rapid growth of TNCs in the world, which caused an urgent need to deploy a widely branched network of transnational banks for the financial services of TNCs and the sharply increasing demands of global financial markets;

the fifth stage is the beginning of the 21st century, when regional integration processes are intensifying in Europe, Northern and South America, Asia and Eurasia, the globalization of all world economic relations with the large-scale participation of TNCs and TNBs is gaining momentum;

the sixth stage is likely to start after the end of the current global crisis, ie. in 2012-2020

By the beginning of the XXI century. in the world three main financial regions were formed, where the largest transnational banks of the world were grouped: the USA, Western Europe and Japan. In the space of these regions, in the process of a long evolution with sharp conflicts and fierce competition between banks, together with their powerful clients (TNCs), a number of international financial centers were formed: in the USA - New York, in Western Europe- London (Great Britain), Paris (France), Zurich (Switzerland), Luxembourg, Frankfurt am Main (Germany), in Japan - Tokyo.

In addition, there are a number of internationally recognized financial centers: in Chicago (USA), Basel (Switzerland), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Vienna (Austria), Hong Kong (PRC), Taiwan (Republic of China), Singapore, Seoul (Republic of Korea) , Sydney (Australia), Cape Town (South Africa), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), etc.

At the beginning of the XXI century. There are about two dozen largest financial centers in the world, containing more than a thousand branches and departments of transnational banks.

The international activity of TNB over the years has acquired a number of characteristic features:

TNB is the main and major intermediary between the owners of financial resources and investors who borrow capital for international business;

TNB - the main determinant of the forms and distribution channels of the movement of financial resources from their owners to their borrowers;

TNB - a universal financial link in the implementation of large-scale international payments, attraction of free funds and their placement in international financial markets on the terms of return, compliance with terms and payment rates;

TNB is a source of large volumes of investment funds with a high degree of their reliability, both in terms of their origin and provision.

The fundamental difference between TNB and national banks lies mainly in the possession of their own, created by them extensive international banking network, which allows them to quickly, on time (justintime) and to the place (justinproperplace) to respond to customer requests in the linden of TNCs and smaller investors (up to small firms). business), satisfying their need for financial resources for the effective conduct of international business.

As a result of the endured global crisis in 2007-2011. the hierarchy of TNBs in the world economy will change, weak and inefficient banks may disappear and new, growing TNBs will appear.

CONCLUSION

Thanks to its organizational structure, TNCs have managed to firmly establish themselves in the system of the world economy. TNCs, possessing huge capital, have penetrated not only into the economic life of partner countries, which leads to the emergence of partial (and sometimes complete) economic dependence of these countries on a certain group of corporations, but also in political life supporting certain parties and movements.

At present, the annual foreign investment of TNCs significantly exceeds the volume of interstate lending. Thanks to their capital investments, there are TNCs in every sector of the world economy today. Transnational corporations have proven their viability despite differences in national legislation, different levels of economic development and political guidelines. The multi-speed development of states is not an insurmountable obstacle to their close interaction. The objective nature of integration is determined by the commonality of historical, geographical, economic and other factors. The emergence of transnational corporations was not only a natural step in the development of the system of organizational and legal forms of social production, but also a necessary step in the reorganization of the industrial structure.

REFERENCES

1.Globalization of the world economy: tutorial/ ed. prof. M.N. Osmova, Assoc. A.V. Boychenko.- M.: INFRA-M, 2011.- 376s.

2. World economy and international economic relations: a textbook for bachelors / ed. R.K. Shchenina, V.V. Polyakova.- M.: Yurayt Publishing House, 2013.- 446s.

3. World economy and international economic relations: textbook / ed. A.S. Bulatova, prof. N.N. Liventseva.- M.: Master, 2008.- 654p.

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5. Pashkovskaya M.V., Gospodarik Yu.P. World economy: textbook / M.V. Pashkovskaya, Yu.P. Gospodarik. - 2nd ed., revised. and additional - M .: Market DS, 2011.- 416s.

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INTRODUCTION

The modern world economy is characterized by a rapidly ongoing process of transnationalization. Transnational corporations (TNCs) are the main driving force in this process. They are business associations consisting of a head (parent, parent) company and foreign branches. The parent company controls the activities of the enterprises included in the association by owning shares (participation) in their capital. In foreign affiliates of TNCs, the share of the parent company - a resident of another country - usually accounts for more than 10% of the shares or their equivalent.

At the turn of the XX-XXI centuries. there is an unprecedented scope of foreign economic activity (international economic transactions), in which TNCs are traders (merchants), investors, distributors modern technologies and stimulators of international labor migration. They largely determine the dynamics and structure, the level of competitiveness in the world market for goods and services, as well as the international movement of capital and the transfer of technology (knowledge). TNCs play a leading role in the internationalization of production, an increasingly widespread process of expanding and deepening production ties between enterprises in different countries.

In the scientific and journalistic literature, two traditions have developed in the assessment of transnational corporations. One of them focuses on the constructive role of TNCs in improving the efficiency of the modern economy and goes in line with positivist economic theory. The other is sharply critical, revealing, with an emphasis on the negative social aspects of the activities of large international corporations. It reflects the influence of stereotypes of the theory of imperialism of the last century and modern anti-globalism.

The topic of TNCs and their role in the world economy is discussed in many monographs on the problem of economic globalization, since the formation and growth of TNCs is the result of the internationalization of the economy and the development of the world market.

It seems to me that real experience and trends dictate the need to overcome one-sidedness and develop a more balanced approach to assessing the role of TNCs in the modern social economic development. Such an approach includes the recognition that the transnationalization of capital is basically a natural process that accelerates socio-economic development. It contributes to the spread of new technologies, forms of organization of production, management and marketing, involvement in the circulation and efficient use of labor and natural resources, reduction of transaction costs, thereby facilitating the implementation of major international projects. Within a market economy, there is no alternative to the transnationalization of capital. All countries, including Russia, are interested in expanding and improving the activities of TNCs.

The purpose of this course work is to analyze transnational corporations and their role in the global economy.

Objectives of the course work:

Give the concept of TNC;

· analyze the theoretical concepts of TNCs;

note the advantages and disadvantages of TNCs;

· to characterize the activities of TNCs in the world economy;

· consider the activities of TNCs in Russia.

Trends in world economic development reject the closedness and self-isolation of the national economy and lead to the development of modern, competitive companies, a clear example of which are TNCs.

Chapter 1. TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS (TNCs)

1.1. Theoretical concepts of TNCs

Modern concepts of TNCs are based on the theory of the firm as an enterprise for organizing the production and marketing of goods and services. Most international companies started their activities by serving national markets. Then, using the comparative advantages of the home country and the competitive advantages of their company, they expanded the scope of their activities in international markets, exporting products abroad or making foreign investments with the aim of organizing production in host countries.

Noting the main feature of TNCs - the presence of foreign branches for the production and marketing of goods and services based on direct investment, researchers of transnational corporations have developed a number of models of foreign direct investment.

The American economist J. Galbraith substantiated the origin of TNCs with technological reasons. In his opinion, the organization of foreign branches of international companies is largely due to the need to sell and Maintenance abroad complex modern products that require a commodity and service distribution system (network) of enterprises in the host countries. This strategy allows TNCs to increase their share in the world market.

The model of monopolistic (unique) advantages was developed by the American S. Heimer, later developed by C. P. Kindleberger and others. market, have extensive ties with the local administration and do not incur large transaction costs, i.e. transaction costs compared to a foreign investor. Monopoly advantages for a foreign firm may arise through the use of original products that are not produced by local firms; availability of perfect technology; "scale effect", which makes it possible to receive a large mass of profit; favorable state regulation for foreign investors in the host country, etc.

The product life cycle model was developed by the American economist R. Vernon on the basis of the company's growth theory. According to this model, any product goes through four stages of the life cycle: I - introduction to the market, II - sales growth, III - market saturation, IV - sales decline. The way out of a decline in sales in the domestic market is to export or establish production abroad, which will extend the life cycle of the product. At the same time, at the stages of growth and saturation of the market, production and marketing costs usually decrease, which makes it possible to reduce the price of the product and, consequently, increase the opportunities for expanding exports and increasing the volume of output abroad.

In most TNCs, they are large enterprises of an oligopolistic or monopoly type with diversified, horizontal or vertical integration of production, they control the manufacture and marketing of products and the provision of services both in the home country and outside it. Using the idea of R. Coase that inside a large corporation between its divisions there is a special internal market regulated by the management of the corporation, the English economists P. Buckley, M. Casson, J. McManus and others created an internalization model, according to which a significant part of international economic transactions is actually intercompany transactions between divisions of large economic complexes. All elements of the international structure of the corporation function as a single, coordinated mechanism in accordance with the global strategy of the parent company, aimed at achieving the main goal of the TNC's activity - making a profit from the operation of the complex of enterprises as a whole, and not each of its links.

Many of the models described above are characterized by a one-sided and narrow view of the complex problem of transnational corporations. The English economist J. Dunning developed an eclectic model that absorbed from other models what has been tested by real practice. According to this model, a firm starts producing goods and services abroad under the condition that three conditions are met: 1) the presence of competitive (monopolistic) advantages over other firms in the host country (owner specific advantages); 2) conditions in the host country facilitate the organization of the production of goods and services there instead of their export (advantages of internationalization of production); 3) the ability to use productive resources in the host country more efficiently than at home (advantages of location).

1.2. Advantages and disadvantages of TNCs

An analysis of the activities of TNCs and theories of foreign direct investment allows us to identify the following main sources of effective activity of TNCs (compared to purely national companies):

Taking Advantage of Ownership natural resources(or access to them), capital and knowledge, especially R&D results, to firms doing business in one country and satisfying their needs for foreign resources only through export-import transactions;

The possibility of optimal location of their enterprises in different countries, taking into account the size of their domestic market, economic growth rates, the price and qualification of the labor force, the prices and availability of other economic resources, the development of infrastructure, as well as political and legal factors, among which political stability is the most important;

Modern transnational corporations provide big influence on the world economy as a whole. In a word, this influence is "stimulation" and "facilitation":

· TNCs stimulate scientific and technological progress, since most of the research work is carried out within their framework, new technological developments appear;

· TNCs stimulate the trend of globalization of the world economy by involving host countries in international economic relations. Largely due to them, there is a gradual “dissolution” of national economies in a single world economy, as a result of which a global economy is spontaneously created by purely economic means, without the use of violence;

· TNCs stimulate the development of world production. As the world's largest investors, they are constantly increasing production capacity, creating new types of products and jobs in host countries, stimulating the development of production in them, and hence the world economy as a whole;

· TNCs contribute to the optimal distribution of resources and the location of production;

But, nevertheless, the development and increase in the number of transnational companies affects not only the world economy as a whole, but also the development of individual countries. International companies for each specific state are representatives of the world economy and must have autonomy limited by the relevant rules, operating within certain legal and institutional frameworks.

Transnational companies are considered the main factors in the formation of the competitiveness of countries and the implementation of their competitive advantage in international markets. Thus, the prosperity of the country largely depends on the success of the TNCs operating on its territory (which is good for General Motors, good for America).

Host countries from investment inflows win on many aspects. First, the widespread attraction of foreign capital contributes to the reduction of unemployment in the country and the growth of state budget revenues. With the organization of production in the country of those products that were previously imported, there is no need to import them. Companies that produce products that are competitive on the world market and are mainly export-oriented contribute to the strengthening of the country's foreign trade position. Secondly, the advantages from TNCs in the host country are also observed in qualitative components. The activities of TNCs force the administration of local companies to make adjustments to technological process, the established practice of industrial relations, to allocate more funds for the training and retraining of workers, to pay more attention to the quality of products, their design, consumer properties. Most often, behind foreign investment is the introduction of new technologies, the release of new types of products, a new management style, and the use of the best practices of foreign business.

Since transnationalization increases both average profits and the reliability of their receipt, the shareholders of TNCs can expect high and stable returns. Workers employed by TNCs enjoy the benefits of the formation of a global labor market, moving from country to country and not being afraid to be out of work.

Most importantly, as a result of the activities of TNCs, institutions are imported - those “rules of the game” (norms of labor and antimonopoly legislation, principles of taxation, contracting practices, etc.) that have been formed in developed countries. TNCs objectively increase the influence of capital-exporting countries on capital-importing countries. For example, German firms in the 1990s subjugated almost all Czech business, with the result that, according to some experts, Germany established much more effective control over the Czech economy than in 1938-1944, when Czechoslovakia was captured by Nazi Germany. Similarly, the economies of Mexico and many other Latin American countries are controlled by American capital.

However, the centralized regulation of the world economy carried out by TNCs also gives rise to many acute Problems that primarily occur in developing and underdeveloped countries:

· fierce competition from TNCs to local companies;

· the possibility of imposing unpromising directions in the international system of labor division on companies of the host country, the danger of the host country turning into a dumping ground for obsolete and environmentally hazardous technologies;

capture foreign firms the most developed and promising segments of industrial production and research structures of the host country. Pushing aside national business and possible monopolization of local markets;

violation of the laws of the host country. Thus, by manipulating the policy of transfer prices, subsidiaries of TNCs circumvent national laws, hiding tax revenues by transferring them from one country to another;

· Establishment of monopoly prices, dictatorship of conditions, infringing on the interests of developing countries;

Thus, each country that hosts TNCs on its territory must take into account all the possible advantages and disadvantages of the influence of transnational capital on its economic and political system to maximize the extent to which the national interests of the state and its citizens are ensured. Currently, as a rule, host countries, both developed and developing, approve the activities of transnational corporations on their territory. Moreover, in the world there is competition between countries to attract foreign direct investment, during which transnational corporations receive tax rebates and other benefits.

The TNCs themselves, when choosing places for themselves to create subsidiaries, proceed from an analysis of production costs, which are often lower in developing countries; products are sold where there is a higher demand for them - mainly in developed countries. That is why, for example, the inhabitants of modern Germany buy the equipment of the German company "Bosh", produced not at all in Germany, but in South Korea. Also, when choosing countries for establishing foreign affiliates, TNCs evaluate the local market in terms of its capacity, availability of resources, location, etc. Moreover, TNCs take into account the political stability in the country, the legal conditions for foreign investment, the taxation system, the nature of trade policy, the degree of infrastructure development, the protection of intellectual property, government regulation of the economy, the cheapness of labor and the level of its qualifications, the stability of the national currency and other aspects.

After analyzing all of the above, TNCs choose the most

their preferred countries. They take it there

a significant part of production, create branches and subsidiaries there, which allows TNCs to make the most efficient use of their resources, thereby realizing their competitive advantages.

I believe that the activities of transnational corporations cannot be assessed only from the worst side. TNCs contribute to the international division of labor, production and development of science and technology. Although wages in affiliated companies are lower than in the home country, they are still often quite high for developing countries, and, in addition, such large companies provide their employees with certain social guarantees. Sometimes underdeveloped countries themselves open their markets to large international companies, realizing their advantages.

The role of TNCs in the global economy. Positive and negative aspects of the activities of TNCs

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Similar Documents

INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1. TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS (TNCs)

1.1. Theoretical concepts of TNCs

1.2. Advantages and disadvantages of TNCs