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Offering an accessible introduction to both the historical roots and the contemporary dynamics of today's world economy, this seventh edition equips students with the knowledge required to make sense of the fast-paced discipline of the global political economy. Illustrating the breadth of the subject, the authors show how the national and the international interact, while also placing an emphasis on the historical evolution of the world economy in order to appreciate the nuances of today's economy structures. It gives students a firm grounding in both traditional and critical theories of global political economy.Tracing the global economy from its early origins through each phase of a shifting world order, the book takes a non-Eurocentric approach, covering both traditional elements of the global economy (such as trade and finance) while also addressing important contemporary areas of concern, including social inequality, cryptocurrencies, populism and protectionism.Reflecting the latest empirical and scholarly developments, this new edition offers:-A new chapter on race in the global economy, in dialogue with the growing body of postcolonial literature in the field-A new chapter on health and the global economy, examining the interactions between the economy and health, and discussing the ongoing implications of COVID-19 -Analysis of key contemporary challenges including sustainable development, environmental concerns and security issues-Extensive companion website resources for lecturers and students, including multiple choice questions, mock essay questions and examples, flashcards and chapter-by-chapter PowerPoint slides.This authoritative and accessible guide to the global political economy is the ideal companion for students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, taking politics, international relations, and related degrees.

This book is a study of the emergence of international business. It immerses itself in the topic of how companies can control income-generating assets in foreign countries, the key element often used to define a multinational enterprise, and propounds the notion that control of crucial dispositions by foreign companies can be achieved by other means than direct foreign investment – cash flow and portfolio ownership. Internationalisation and Strategic Control analyses the extent to which a firm can control the investments of foreign companies in the field of supply and maintenance of production machinery. It achieves this through a case study of how F.L. Smidth & Co., global leaders in providing technology for the cement industry since the 1890s, managed to achieve a vital influence over, and control of, cement-producing companies in Asia in the period 1890-1938. The study examines how this strategy was promoted by some internal and external factors and circumstances, and hindered by others. In highlighting strategic tools and initiatives other than cash flow and portfolio ownership, the book applies concepts taken from a broad range of research fields covering social science, cultural analysis, micro history, Actor-Network-Theory and industrial archaeology. It will be of interest to researchers, academics, and students in the fields of international business, business history and globalisation.

How chartered company-states spearheaded European expansion and helped create the world's first genuinely global orderFrom Spanish conquistadors to British colonialists, the prevailing story of European empire-building has focused on the rival ambitions of competing states. But as Outsourcing Empire shows, from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, company-states—not sovereign states—drove European expansion, building the world's first genuinely international system. Company-states were hybrid ventures: pioneering multinational trading firms run for profit, with founding charters that granted them sovereign powers of war, peace, and rule. Those like the English and Dutch East India Companies carved out corporate empires in Asia, while other company-states pushed forward European expansion through North America, Africa, and the South Pacific. In this comparative exploration, Andrew Phillips and J. C. Sharman explain the rise and fall of company-states, why some succeeded while others failed, and their role as vanguards of capitalism and imperialism.In dealing with alien civilizations to the East and West, Europeans relied primarily on company-states to mediate geographic and cultural distances in trade and diplomacy. Emerging as improvised solutions to bridge the gap between European rulers'expansive geopolitical ambitions and their scarce means, company-states succeeded best where they could balance the twin imperatives of power and profit. Yet as European states strengthened from the late eighteenth century onward, and a sense of separate public and private spheres grew, the company-states lost their usefulness and legitimacy.Bringing a fresh understanding to the ways cross-cultural relations were handled across the oceans, Outsourcing Empire examines the significance of company-states as key progenitors of the globalized world.

Stories of ten historical figures who helped build the long road to globalization, from Genghis Khan to an Intel CEO: “Filled with brilliant vignettes.” —The Washington PostThis is the story of globalization, the most powerful force in history, as told through the lives and times of ten people who established new connections between people and nations—whether that was their primary goal or not. Rather than focusing on trends, policies, or particular industries, From Silk to Silicon views the topic of globalization for the first time through the lens of individuals and their transformative actions. It tells us who these men and women were, what they did, how they did it, and how their achievements continue to shape our world today. You'll read about Genghis Khan, who united east and west by conquest and by opening new trade routes built on groundbreaking transportation, communications, and management innovations; Mayer Amschel Rothschild, who escaped the ghetto and ushered in an era of global finance; Cyrus Field, who led the effort to build the transatlantic telegraph; Margaret Thatcher, whose controversial policies opened the gusher of substantially free markets that linked economies across borders; Andy Grove, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor who, at Intel, laid the foundation for Silicon Valley's computer revolution; and more.Economist Jeffrey E. Garten finds the common links between these figures and probes critical questions including: How much influence can any one person have in fundamentally changing the world? How have past trends in globalization affected the present? And how will they shape the future? “Fascinating and illuminating.” —Fareed Zakaria, author of Age of Revolutions“Garten has brilliantly updated Thomas Carlyle's Great Man theory of history... A tour de force, imaginative, informative and just plain fun to read.” —Strobe Talbott, former Deputy Secretary of State“A terrific book on globalization... really compelling.” —Thomas L. Friedman, author of The World is Flat

The Dynamics of International Business offers a comparative, chronological overview of the strategic and structural evolution of international firms.Organized around eras of global economic development, the text synthesizes research on the internationalization of firms, highlighting crucial turning points in the evolution of the international economy. A particular emphasis is placed on the relationship between historical evidence and the theoretical frameworks available for its interpretation. Each period is illustrated by a selection of short case studies from a variety of industry sectors, including the Levant Company, Nestlé, Singer, Saint Gobain and NEC.An essential textbook for courses in business and economic history, this book will also be a valuable resource for scholars and students of international business more generally.

The landscape of the world economy has been significantly reshaped in recent years. The global economic crisis revealed the fragile foundations of the international financial system, and, in its wake, dynamics of economic power have considerably adjusted. In the fifth edition of this best-selling text, these developments are incorporated into a comprehensive introduction to the global political economy. It takes full account of the emergence of China as a contender to the predominance of the US, of the changing role of the BRICS economies more generally, and of the on-going problems of the European Union, and especially the eurozone.While incorporating the latest developments, Global Political Economy continues to provide a historically-grounded account. It traces the evolution of the global economy, from its roots in the 15th century, through the Industrial Revolution, to the post-1945 world order. It then explores in detail the dynamics of global political economy in the 21st century, providing systematic coverage of the key spheres of activity – trade, production, finance, labour, gender, development, the environment, ideas, security and governance. Lucid, engaging and authoritative, Global Political Economy introduces an unusually wide range of theoretical approaches, moving beyond a traditional three-paradigm perspective to show how these theories can be applied and how useful they are for understanding key issues and developments.

The United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations (UNCTC) was established in 1975 and abolished in 1992. It was an early effort by the UN to address the overlapping issues of national sovereignty, corporate responsibility and global governance. These issues have since multiplied and deepened with globalization. This book recounts the UNCTC experience and its lessons for international organizations.This book is not only an insider perspective by two former staff but also a collective memoir of the UNCTC as an international organization that attempted with varying success to defuse the clash between corporates and states that erupted in the turbulent 1970s. This personal account of the UNCTC is a mixture of history, analysis, reflections, and critical commentaries, told in different voices that penetrate the bland persona of international civil service. In this retelling, the authors seek to address misconceptions amongst the more general literature and to seek to provide accounts of both its positive and negative features.The UNCTC experience recounted in this book holds valuable lessons for international organization and will be of interest to student, scholars and practitioners alike.

Commerce meets conquest in this swashbuckling story of the six merchant-adventurers who built the modern world, as told by “Canada's Simon Winchester” (Globe and Mail).Through the Age of Heroic Commerce, from the 17th to the 19th centuries, a rogue's gallery of larger-than-life merchant kings ruled vast tracts of the globe and expanded their far-flung monopolies to generate revenue for their shareholders, feather their own nests and satisfy their vanity and curiosity. Their exploits changed the world during an age of unfettered globalization, mirroring a world we know today.Merchant Kings looks at each ruling monopoly through its greatest merchant king and considers their stories together for the first time: Jan Pieterszoon Coen of the Dutch East India Company Pieter Stuyvesant of the Dutch West India Company Robert Clive of the English East India Company Alexandr Baranov of the Russian-American Company George Simpson of the Hudson's Bay Company Cecil John Rhodes of the British South Africa Company

This volume provides new insights to the history of international business. The international group of authors, drawn from the United States, Canada, Britain and Japan, address two main themes: How has global business developed over the last century? And what has been its impact on host economies? These original and wide-ranging essays, prefaced by an extensive editorial introduction, are required reading in courses on international business.

First Published in 1990. This collection of essays is intended shed light upon key issues in the history of mining and metallurgy: issues such as investment and organisation; professionalisation; the impact of technological change; and the problematic relationship between mineral wealth and sustained economic development.

This text presents for the first time the history of international business, using both a case and contextual approach. Case studies from around the world are analyzed in both their internal and external contexts. Divided into five geographical sections--Europe, North America, Central America/South America/the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia/the Western Pacific--the text features case studies of particular businesses of various periods, as well as essays on international business and economic integration in the particular regions. Introductions to each section define main themes and relate the case studies to those themes; commentaries introduce each case study and summarize key issues.This pioneering text is suitable for upper-division courses in international business history. It can also serve as a supplementary text in courses in international economic history, international economic relations, economic development, and comparative management