New Forms of International Industrial Co-operation

Abstract

This chapter is an attempt to bring together the rather disparate literature on a topic which is currently identified as an important area in international trade and development — the growth of ‘new forms’ of international industrial co-operation. Such new forms are contrasted with traditional technology transfer through the agency of a wholly-owned subsidiary of a multinational enterprise. Consequently, we are able to identify a spectrum of forms of industrial co-operation from joint ventures between multinationals and host-country interests through a variety of contractual agreements such as licensing, franchising and management contracts to time-limited ‘contractual joint ventures’ and ‘fade-out agreements’.