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- Title
Foreign multinationals and British industry before 1945.
- Authors
Jones, Geoffrey
- Abstract
This article examines the role of foreign multinationals in British manufacturing and utilities before 1945. Since the late nineteenth century Britain has been the recipient of substantial investment by foreign-owned multinational enterprises. Section I looks at the dimensions of this investment; section II discusses the reasons which led foreign companies to establish or acquire factories in Britain, and section III examines the impact of these companies on the British economy. The first multinational manufacturing investments in Britain were probably those of Samuel Colt, the American gun manufacturer, who established a factory in London, England in 1853, and J. Ford and Co. who established an Edinburgh factory to manufacture vulcanized rubber in 1856. Although American companies were the most numerous multinational investors, continental firms were also active. By 1914 there were subsidiaries of prominent German firms such as Mannesmann and Hoechst manufacturing in the electrical, chemical, and pharmaceutical sectors in Britain.
- Subjects
UNITED Kingdom; INTERNATIONAL business enterprises; FOREIGN investments; INDUSTRIALISTS; ECONOMIC history; SUBSIDIARY corporations
- Publication
Economic History Review, 1988, Vol 41, Issue 3, p429
- ISSN
0013-0117
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2307/2597369