Theories of Transnational Corporations, Environment and Development: A Review of the Four Dominant Perspectives

The review will centre around what I consider as four distinct perspectives on TNCs, environment and development: the neo-classical perspective; the global reach perspective; the radical perspective; and the ecological perspective. These perspectives represent the main theoretical positions in the field and are mainly distinguished by their normative content and by their use of methodology: The neo-classical perspective covers a variety of theories spanning from international trade economics, over theories of the product cycle to theories of transaction-costs and internalization, which, differences apart, share a positive interpretation of TNC’s role in development. This optimistic view is reflected in this literature’s view on the environmental impacts of TNC activity.