This authoritative book examines the power of multinational corporations (MNCs) to exert influence in global politics. Focusing on the actions and motivations of MNCs, it explores how they attempt to shape the political issues that affect them. Combining theoretical perspectives with analyses of enlightening case studies, the contributors consider key areas in which MNCs seek to exert political influence such as environmental sustainability, social conflicts and corporate tax avoidance, as well as in specific industries including mining, shipping and consulting. They also illustrate the mechanisms used by MNCs to exert influence in a wide range of policy fields at multiple territorial levels, discussing how they interact with states, intergovernmental organizations and civil society, as well as how they coordinate their activities with other parts of the business community. The book concludes that MNCs enjoy certain basic privileges in society and politics due to their preponderant economic position and their key role in the processes of globalization, but action is necessary to sustain this role. MNCs in Global Politics will be critical reading for academics and students of politics, international relations and political economy, particularly those with an interest in globalization and governance. Its exploration of specific case studies will also be beneficial for policy-makers.

We have long been told that corporations rule the world, their interests seemingly taking precedence over states and their citizens. Yet while states, civil society and international organizations are well drawn in terms of their institutions, ideologies and functions, the world s 100,000 + global corporations are often more simply sketched as mechanisms of pure profit maximization. In this book, John Mikler recasts global corporations as political actors with complex identities and strategies. Debunking the idea of global corporations as exclusively profit-driven entities, he shows how they seek not only to drive or modify the agendas of states but to govern in their own right. He also explains why we need to re-territorialize global corporations as political actors which reflect and project the political power of the territories from which they hail We know the global corporations names, we know where they are headquartered, and we know where they invest and operate. Economic processes are increasingly produced by the control they possess, the relationships they have with other actors, the leverage they employ, the strategic decisions they make, and the discourses they create to enhance acceptance of their interests. This book represents a call to study how they do so, rather than making assumptions based on theoretical abstractions.

Corporations, including those in the car industry, are increasingly keen to proclaim their green credentials. But what motivates firms to reduce the environmental impact of their products? Rather than accepting the conventional wisdom, John Mikler addresses this question in a novel way by taking a comparative institutionalist approach informed by the Varieties of Capitalism literature. Focusing on Germany, the US and Japan, the author shows that national variations in capitalist relations of production are central to explaining how the car industry tackles the issue of climate change, such variations are crucial for understanding the normative as well as material basis for firms' motivations. This ground-breaking book will be of great benefit to students and academics, particularly those with an interest in comparative politics, public policy and international political economy. It may also serve as a resource for courses on environmental politics and environmental management as well as aspects of international relations and business/management. Given the book's contemporary policy relevance, it will be a valuable reference for policy practitioners with an interest in industry policy, multinational corporations, the environment, and institutional approaches to comparative politics.

We have long been told that corporations rule the world, their interests seemingly taking precedence over states and their citizens. Yet while states, civil society and international organizations are well drawn in terms of their institutions, ideologies and functions, the world s 100,000 + global corporations are often more simply sketched as mechanisms of pure profit maximization. In this book, John Mikler recasts global corporations as political actors with complex identities and strategies. Debunking the idea of global corporations as exclusively profit-driven entities, he shows how they seek not only to drive or modify the agendas of states but to govern in their own right. He also explains why we need to re-territorialize global corporations as political actors which reflect and project the political power of the territories from which they hail We know the global corporations names, we know where they are headquartered, and we know where they invest and operate. Economic processes are increasingly produced by the control they possess, the relationships they have with other actors, the leverage they employ, the strategic decisions they make, and the discourses they create to enhance acceptance of their interests. This book represents a call to study how they do so, rather than making assumptions based on theoretical abstractions.