A History of Foreign Multinational Enterprises in Australia from Federation

我们的目标是提供20世纪澳大利亚第一部外国跨国公司的历史，连接并加强丰富的全球商业海外文献。外国公司在这里发挥了关键作用，但人们对它的理解却很少，公众和政策意见两极分化，一方面是批准新投资、创造就业和创新，另一方面是担心它们对税收、竞争和经济政策的影响。通过对跨国公司的更密切、更长期的了解——它们的规模、在这里定居的动机、公司结构和对当地条件的适应——我们的发现将为有关外国投资和外国企业在当今澳大利亚经济中的作用的公共辩论和政策提供信息。

We aim to deliver the first history of foreign multinational firms in twentieth-century Australia, connecting to, and enhancing, a rich overseas literature on global business. Foreign corporations have played a critical but poorly understood role here with public and policy opinions polarised between approval for new investment, job creation and innovation against concern for their impact on tax revenue, competition, and economic policy. Through a closer, long term understanding of multinationals – their magnitude, motives to settle here, corporate structures, and adaptation to local conditions – our findings will inform public debate and policy about the roles of foreign investment and foreign enterprises in the Australian economy today.