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  • 2021
  • Article
  • Entreprises et histoire

Les multinationales comme catégorie politique: les années formatrices (1970-1990)

By: Sabine Pitteloud
  • Format:Print
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Abstract

While multinationals are emblematic economic actors driving the current globalization process through the organization of production in global value chains, they appear to be important political actors as well. This article provides an historical perspective on such dynamics by showing how, during the 1970s, multinationals were progressively institutionalized as a specific category of firms within business associations. Analysis of archival material from the Swiss Federation of Commerce and Industry uncovers the creation of several working groups specifically dedicated to multinationals. Cooperation among these firms was initially a defensive reaction to the attempts on the part of international organizations to introduce guidelines to regulate multinational companies. Once these groups were institutionalized, however, they also contributed to reframe the debate within international organizations and to argue for favorable regulations for private investors.

Keywords

Multinational Corporation; Lobbying; Investor Protection; Multinational Firms and Management; Business and Government Relations; Governance

Citation

Pitteloud, Sabine. "Les multinationales comme catégorie politique: les années formatrices (1970-1990)." Special Issue on L'entreprise comme acteur politique. Entreprises et histoire 3, no. 104 (2021): 93–110.
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    Let's Coordinate! The Reinforcement of a ‘Liberal Bastion’ within European Industrial Federations, 1978-1987

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    Capitalism and Global Governance in Business History: A Roundtable Discussion

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More from the Author
  • Let's Coordinate! The Reinforcement of a ‘Liberal Bastion’ within European Industrial Federations, 1978-1987 By: Sabine Pitteloud
  • The Power and Limits of Expertise: Swiss–Swedish Linking of Vehicle Emission Standards in the 1970s and 1980s By: Mattias Näsman and Sabine Pitteloud
  • Capitalism and Global Governance in Business History: A Roundtable Discussion By: Sabine Pitteloud, Grace Ballor, Patricia Clavin, Nicolás M. Perrone, Neil Rollings and Quinn Slobodian
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