We apply insights from Edith Penrose’s work to extant theory of the multinational enterprise (MNE) as enveloped by John Dunning’s Ownership, Location, Internalization (OLI) Paradigm. We suggest that Penrose’s knowledge-based approach has important implications on the nature of, and the...

Extant explanations of the nature and scope of firms, such as transaction costs, property rights, metering and “resources” can be integrated into a more general (capability based) theory of the nature and essence of the firm that recognizes the importance to the firm of creating (and...

This is an earlier draft for the introduction to the book "The theory of the growth of the firm" published by Oxford Press, 4th edition, 2009.

The concepts of asset co-specialization and dynamic capabilities have been instrumental in furthering the organization and strategy scholarship agenda, but have so far had limited impact to the theory of the MNE and FDI. In addition, the role of entrepreneurial management in orchestrating...

This paper discusses alternative political economic perspectives on competition (antitrust) and industrial policies (IP), in theory and in practice, while critically assessing recent European IP in this context. It develops a new framework for IP, which emphasises the sustainability of value and...

We discuss issues pertaining to the political economy of “globalization”, in the context of the seminal contribution by Stephen Hymer. While Hymer’s contribution to the theory of the multinational enterprise (MNE) and foreign direct investment (FDI) is widely recognized, his contribution...

Cyert and March’s 1963 seminal book is one of the two major economics-based theories of the firm that goes inside the ‘black box’ (the firm) – the other being the contribution of Edith Penrose. The two theories have differences, but also similarities, and substantial scope for...

In this paper, we explore the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the competitiveness of emerging economies and economic integration. We structure the paper as follows. Following this Introduction (Section I), in Section II, we assess briefly and critically extant theories of FDI and the...

Despite recent emphasis on intra-organizational issues, scholarship on organizations, management and strategy remains unduly reliant on economic models, such as the industrial organization (IO) market structure-based analysis. The focus of such models is on price-output determination by firms...

We analyse the hitherto unexplored relationship between intra-firm conflict between the research and development (R&D) department and central management, conflict alleviation and the choice of ‘open’ versus ‘closed’ innovation, in the context of a simple formal model. We find that in the...