01578nam a2200157Ia 450000500170000000800390001702000180005608200180007410000180009224501030011026000410021330000140025452011010026865000250136970000260139420260225134115.0260225s9999    xx          000 0 und d  a9780198290322  a338.8809bWIL  aWilkins, Mira 0aThe Free-standing Company in the World Economy, 1830-1996 / cWilkins, Mira; Schröter, Harm G.  bOxford University Press, USA, c1998  a512 pages  aFree-standing companies are a special type of multinational enterprise that proliferated in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; some persisted into later years; few remain today. Many were headquartered in the United Kingdom, but important free-standing companies had headquarters in the other capital-rich nations. This book explores the history of the free-standing company, the theoretical implications of the concept, comparisons with the `American model' multinational enterprise, the validity of the concept, and its contribution to the understanding of modern economic history. Leading international scholars - economists and historians - provide evidence on and analysis of the operations of free-standing companies in different parts of the world. This is the first book on the much-discussed topic of free-standing companies. The volume will provide a rich quarry for those interested in world economic history, regional and national economic histories, in the spread of international business, and in the different forms that multinational enterprises take through time.  aBusiness & Economics  aSchröter, Harm G.