Review: American Business Abroad
| Date | 01 June 1972 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070207202700212 |
| Author | Christopher J. Maule |
| Published date | 01 June 1972 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
310
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
AMERICAN
BUSINESS
ABROAD
Six
Lectures
on
Direct
Investment
Charles
P.
Kindleberger
New
Haven:
Yale
University
Press
[Montreal:
McGill
University
Press],
1969,
x,
225pp,
$7.45
cloth,
$2.15
paper
Professor
Kindleberger's
book
provides
an
excellent
discussion
and
analysis
of
the impact
of
American
direct investment
both
on
the
United
States
and
on host
countries
including
Canada.
Such
investment
is
of
critical
and
growing
significance
in
international
economic
and political
relationships.
Although
Kindleberger
takes
great
pains to
stress
that
he
is
looking
at
direct investment
from
the
point
of
view
of
an
economist,
it
is
interest-
ing
to
note
that
he
is
of necessity
drawn
into
the political
arena,
because
the
main
character
of
his book,
the
international
corporation,
is
in-
extricably
involved
in political
as
well
as
in
economic
affairs.
This
makes
the
book of
wide-ranging
interest,
providing
a
wealth
of
examples
to
the
student
of
international
affairs
as
well
as
to
the
economist.
The
book contains
six
lectures in the
first
of
which
Kindleberger
discusses
some
rival
theories
of
direct investment,
with
emphasis
on
Hymer's
work
which draws
heavily
on
aspects
of
industrial
organization.
The
most
controversial
lecture
comes
second
and
deals
with
the
United
States
concern
with
direct investment.
Although
not
the
last
word
on
whether
the
United
States
government
uses
its
international
corpora-
tions
with imperialist
intent,
Kindleberger
here
puts
the
issues
in
per-
spective
and
provides
the
arguments
against
charges
of
United
States
im-
perialism
through
direct
investment.
The
next
three
lectures
examine
the
economic
impact
of
United
States
investment
in
(I)
Europe
and
Japan,
(2)
the
Dominions,
and
(3)
less
developed
countries.
A
compre-
hensive
list
of economic
arguments
is
here
given
careful
analysis:
of
particular
interest
is
the
French
claim
that
United
States
investors
borrow from
the
Bank
of
France
to
acquire French
industrial
firms.
The
evolution
of
the
international
corporation
is
the
focus
of
the
final
lecture,
with
particular
attention
to the
way
in
which
these
corpor-
ations
can
promote
international
efficiency
through
increasing
the
inter-
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