Global Electrification: Multinational Enterprise and International Finance in the History of Light and Power, 18782007 [Hardcover]

This book offers an analysis of multinational enterprise throughout the world by examining the spread of electrification.This book examines how from the late 1870s multinational enterprises and international finance influenced the spread of electrification around the world. The early and significant impact of multinational enterprises did not persist; by 1978 multinational enterprises had been replaced by electrical utility providers with national business structures. Yet, in recent years, there has been a vigorous revival of multinational enterprise in the provision of light and power. This unique cooperative effort by the three authors and a group of experts from many countries offers a fresh historical analysis.This book examines how from the late 1870s multinational enterprises and international finance influenced the spread of electrification around the world. The early and significant impact of multinational enterprises did not persist; by 1978 multinational enterprises had been replaced by electrical utility providers with national business structures. Yet, in recent years, there has been a vigorous revival of multinational enterprise in the provision of light and power. This unique cooperative effort by the three authors and a group of experts from many countries offers a fresh historical analysis.This book examines how multinational enterprises and international finance influenced the course of electrification around the world. Multinational enterprises played a crucial role in the spread of electric light and power from the 1870s through the first three decades of the twentieth century. Their role did not persist, as over time they exited through domestication (buy-outs, confiscations, or other withdrawals), so that by 1978 multinational enterprises in this sector had all but disappeared, replaced by electrical utility providers with national business structures. Yet, in recent years, there has been a vigorous revival. This book, a unique cooperative effl-