MNE political behavior in the non-market: A self-preservation perspective

Beskrivning

This project examines societal concerns and ‘bad behavior’ associated with MNEs and FDI, in terms of exerting pressures on government regulation that compromise ethics, sustainability and societal well-being. We argue that while extant IB theory is well equipped to analyze and explain MNC behavior in the market environment, it lacks analytical perspectives with equal analytical rigor and explanatory power when it comes to MNE behavior in the external political non-market environment. Hence, we develop an argument for the adoption of the international relations perspective of ‘self-preservation’ in IB scholarship, as it provides a more suitable analytical lens to view and analyze both the market and nonmarket aspects of MNC behavior. This opens up for analyses of MNC engagement in shaping and dominating political processes to define the structure of national and transnational politics. We introduce a new framework that explains the structural dimension of MNC rationality which drives ‘bad behavior’.