Network Geographies and Geographical Networks: Co-dependence and Co-evolution of Multinational Enterprises and Space

The main analytical and multidisciplinary frameworks adopted for understanding the multinational enterprise (MNE) have tended to be largely non-spatial and non-geographical in nature. Although there have been some recent developments incorporating geography into the analysis of the of MNE studies the longstanding and widespread absence of geography in MNE studies leads to analytical problems. In particular, in the investigation of MNE operations and their interactions with different economic actors and contexts, the use of typical dichotomies, such as home versus host, horizontal versus vertical integration, and determinant versus impact, today prove to be much less effective or relevant than might previously have been the case. More specifically, the fundamental geographical and institutional re-orderings associated with modern globalization mean that nowadays we see increasingly co-dependent and co-evolutionary corporate and geographical networks. Understanding these is essential in order to understand the new international division of labour.