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Multinationals, international business, and poverty: A cross-disciplinary research overview and conceptual framework

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Abstract

This article examines the role of multinationals and international business in poverty alleviation, based on an analysis of articles in the top journals in business, economics, and policy. We develop a conceptual cross-disciplinary framework that maps and disentangles the impact of different types of international business activities on five dimensions of poverty, moderated by country and industry effects. While our study suggests that the impact of all the types of business activities on poverty is still unclear overall, we contribute to research and policy debates by identifying key insights from and main gaps in this cross-disciplinary stream of literature. A distinction is made between firm effects as part of both ‘mainstream’ and ‘responsible’ globalization, and firm-specific activities with and without the explicit goal of poverty alleviation, considering investment and trade. We propose areas for further research based on the framework, including the importance of interaction effects and contextual factors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Amsterdam Business School, Plantage Muidergracht 12, 1018 TV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Ans Kolk

  2. Babson College, Boston, MA, USA

    Miguel Rivera-Santos

  3. Sawyer School of Business, Suffolk University, Boston, MA, USA

    Carlos Rufín

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  1. Ans Kolk
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  2. Miguel Rivera-Santos
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  3. Carlos Rufín
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Correspondence to Ans Kolk.

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Accepted by Hafiz Mirza, Area Editor, 26 March 2018. This article has been with the authors for one revision and was single-blind reviewed.

Appendix: List of papers

Appendix: List of papers

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Kolk, A., Rivera-Santos, M. & Rufín, C. Multinationals, international business, and poverty: A cross-disciplinary research overview and conceptual framework. J Int Bus Policy 1, 92–115 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1057/s42214-018-0004-1

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