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Multinational Corporations and Service Provision in Sub‐Saharan Africa: Legitimacy and Institutionalization Matter
Author(s) -
Hönke Jana,
Thauer Christian R.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
governance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.46
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1468-0491
pISSN - 0952-1895
DOI - 10.1111/gove.12072
Subject(s) - multinational corporation , legitimacy , institutionalisation , service (business) , business , public administration , political science , law , finance , politics , marketing
This article considers attempts by multinational corporations to provide services in areas of limited statehood. Under which conditions are such attempts effective? We make two arguments: First, they must be legitimate to be effective. Second, the institutional design of the firms’ service provision programs is an important factor for their effectiveness. We assess these arguments by analyzing multinationals in the S outh A frican car industry fighting HIV / AIDS , and international mining firms in S outh A frica and the D emocratic R epublic of C ongo trying to improve public security. The analysis demonstrates that under conditions of legitimacy and high degrees of institutionalization firm programs effectively contribute to service provision in areas of limited statehood.