This book challenges conventional wisdom by revealing an extensive and heterogeneous community of foreign businesses in Australia before 1914. Multinational enterprise arrived predominantly from Britain, but other sender nations included the USA, France, Germany, New Zealand, and Japan. Their firms spread out across Australia from mining and pastoral communities, to portside industries and CBD precincts, and they operated broadly across mining, trading, shipping, insurance, finance, and manufacturing. They were a remarkably diverse population of firms by size, organisational form, and longevity.
This is a rare study of the impact of multinationals on a host nation, particularly before World War One, and that focuses on a successful resource-based economy. Deploying a database of more than 600 firms, supported by contemporary archives and publications, the work reveals how multinational influence was contested by domestic enterprise, other foreign firms, and the strategic investments of governments in network industries. Nonetheless, foreign agency – particularly investment, knowledge and entrepreneurship – mattered in the economic development of Australia in the nineteenth as well as the twentieth centuries. This book will be of interest to students and researchers in Australian and international economic and business history, the history of economic growth and scholars of international business.
Author(s): Simon Ville, David Merrett
Series: Palgrave Studies in Economic History
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 256
City: Singapore
About the Book
About the Authors
Contents
List of Tables
Preface
Chapter 1: The International Engagement of the Australian Colonies
Introduction
Australia and the International Economy Before 1914
Alternative Hypothesis. The Domestic Sources of Growth
The Development Synthesis
Hidden from View: Agency and Diversity
Attitudes Towards International Business Before 1914
Australia in the History of International Business
Structure of the Book
Chapter 2: Foreign Investment in Australia Before World War One
Introduction
Measuring Foreign Investment in Australia
Private Capital Inflow: When Did the Money Arrive and Where Did It Go?
British Overseas Private Investment in Australia and the World by Industry
Foreign Direct Investment and Multinationals
Conclusion
Chapter 3: Hidden from View: The Multinational Enterprise in Colonial Australia
Introduction
Methodology and Sources
Numbers, Nationality and Control
Organisational Types
Free-Standing Companies
Merchants and Trading Groups
Modern MNEs
Conclusion
Chapter 4: Pioneers of International Business in Australia before 1871
Introduction
Key Features of Multinational Expansion before the 1870s
Industries
The Longevity of Pre-1871 Multinationals
Conclusion
Chapter 5: The Spread of the Multinational Economy, 1871–1914
Introduction
The Arrival of Multinationals After 1870
When Did They Arrive?
Where Did They Come From?
In Which Sectors Did They Invest?
Manufacturing
Mining
Pastoral and Agricultural Production
Trading
Transport, Communications and Utilities
Finance and Insurance
How Long Did They Survive in Australia?
Conclusion
Chapter 6: Why Did They Come?
Introduction
The Attractions of Australia
The Competitive Advantage of Industries
Impulses for Internalisation
Staged Entry
Control
Conclusion
Chapter 7: The Developmental and Spatial Impact of Multinational Enterprise
Introduction
MNEs and Economic Development
The Dynamics of Growth
International Trade
Domestic Markets
Geographic Impact
Conclusion
Chapter 8: Innovation and Competition
Introduction
Innovation
Competition
Conclusion
Chapter 9: Global Hosts
Introduction
Popular Attitudes, Political and Policy Environment
The Scale and Scope of Multinational Investments
Locational Strategies of Multinationals: Australia’s Place in the Pecking Order
Conclusion
Chapter 10: Foreign Voices and Contested Multinationalism
Bibliography
Company Index
General Index
