ABSTRACT
One of the most remarkable economic phenomena of the last 20 years has been the growth of the multinational firms. Accord ing to various estimates, direct foreign investment now totals over S100 billion. As the number and power of the multinational enterprises have grown, economists have devoted increasing amounts of attention to the reasons for this growth and to the effects of the multinational enterprise on the world economy. It is perfectly clear that technology and the multinational corpora tion are often inextricably bound together, both because firms often become multinational to exploit their technological superiority on a wider scale and because the multinational firm is an important agent in the production and diffusion of technology. And it is equally clear that more information is needed, both for public policy and private decision-making, concerning the technological activities of the multinational firms.2
