Stephen Hymer
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Stephen Herbert Hymer (1934-1974), Canadian economist, was born in Montreal, and died near that city in a car accident. His research focused on the activities of multinational firms, which was the subject of his PhD dissertation The International Operations of National Firms: A Study of Direct Foreign Investment, presented in 1960, but published posthumously in 1976.
In the analysis of the nature and causes of foreign investment, Hymer made a distinction between direct and portfolio investment. After ascertaining that differences in interest rates cause portfolio investments, but not direct investments, and that the industrial distribution of the latter is not significantly different from one country to another, as could be expected if their cause was solely differences in profitability, Hymer concluded that direct investments are capital movements associated to international operations of firms. Their goal is to keep control of production. This control allows either to suppress competition, or appropriate rents derived from advantages like skilled labour, cheap raw materials, access to capital markets or technology.
Later, Hymer's ideas evolved to marxist positions. In a series of articles published in the 1970s, he considered the role played by national states and labour. These articles were compiled by his colleagues in The Multinational Corporations: A Radical Approach. Papers by Stephen Herbert Hymer, published in 1979.
Hymer's theories have strongly influenced other economists, like Cantwell and Dunning.
[edit] References
- Hymer, S. H. (1960): “The International Operations of National Firms: A Study of Direct Foreign Investment”. PhD Dissertation. Published posthumously. The MIT Press, 1976. Cambridge, Mass.
- Cohen R.B. et al. (eds, 1979), “The Multinational Corporations: A Radical Approach. Papers by Stephen Herbert Hymer", Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, Mass.
