Canadian-Based Multinationals

Today about 1300 Canadian-based firms operate foreign (primarily US) subsidiaries. Other major industrialised countries have experienced a similar expansion of direct investment abroad. This process of globalisation has created important intra-firm linkages throughout world markets. Today, one-third of world trade is intra-firm. This means that Canada's international competitiveness depends on both the presence of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in Canada and Canadian-based MNEs abroad. This volume considers some major issues linked with Canadian direct investment abroad: whether and to what extent outward direct investment imparts net benefits to the Canadian economy over and above those realised by the investing companies themselves; labour-market issues (shifts in employment between low and high productivity sectors); technology issues (adoption, skills, diffusion, transfer, R&D); tax issues (objectives and constraints on taxation of FDI, and location effects).