Managing governments2006

A noteworthy characteristic of the contemporary global economy is the uneven distribution of world foreign direct investment (FDI). While in the first global economy before 1929 most FDI was located in developing countries, currently three-quarters of world FDI is located in developed countries. Large emerging economies with little inward FDI include India and Turkey, despite the relaxation over the last two decades of the restrictions imposed on foreign firms between 1950 and 1980. This working paper explores why Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch consumer products company, was able to sustain large businesses in those countries even in the postwar era of hostility to foreign multinationals.