Multinationals and Market Integration

This chapter examines the relationship of global business and society by examining the historical role of multinational corporations in international market integration. After discussing how multinationals have played a role in integrating international markets since the nineteenth century, it focuses on multinationals and market integration in the European single market, in which multinationals both advocated for and navigated around dimensions of regional market integration. This chapter then considers the contexts of other regional trade agreements, including NAFTA, ASEAN to MERCOSUR/L. Finally, this chapter assesses the impact of multinationals and market integration on society and what backlash against both multinationals and trade frameworks reveals about the social consequences.