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Between markets and hierarchies: The multinational operations of Japanese general trading companies
Author(s) -
Enderwick Peter
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
managerial and decision economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.288
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1099-1468
pISSN - 0143-6570
DOI - 10.1002/mde.4090090104
Subject(s) - reinterpretation , multinational corporation , incentive , business , investment (military) , welfare , industrial organization , inclusion (mineral) , economics , microeconomics , market economy , finance , sociology , political science , law , gender studies , physics , politics , acoustics
Abstract This paper questions the conclusion of Kojima and Ozawa (1984) that the overseas activities of Japanese General Trading Companies are best explained by Japanese‐type theories of the multinational enterprise. Such investments appear amenable to inclusion within the prevailing micro‐economic paradigm when due consideration is given to the existence of ownership‐specific advantages and economic incentives to federated business relationships. The inadequacies of the Kojima/Ozawa treatment stem from reliance on a deficient theoretical base, selective description of the characteristics of trading companies and superficial treatment of the modern theory of the multinational enterprise. The reinterpretation offered casts doubts on the proferred welfare effects of this type of investment.