Multinational Enterprise Project

The Multinational Enterprise Study (also called the “Multinational Project” and the “Multinational Enterprise and the Nation State Project”) led by Raymond Vernon from 1965 to 1973 gathered data on the development of more than 35,000 foreign subsidiaries of the world’s largest manufacturing enterprises. The data was collected in two stages. From 1965 through 1969, data was gathered on approximately 10,000 foreign subsidiaries of 187 of the largest U.S.-based manufacturing enterprises tracing subsidiaries from 1900 until January 1, 1968. From 1971 through 1973, data was gathered on more than 15,000 foreign subsidiaries of 226 of the largest manufacturing enterprises based outside the United States tracing subsidiaries from 1900 until January 1, 1971. Per agreement with companies, individual parent company names have been redacted from the study data. Use of this data in the past has been primarily through its published form in Joan P. Curhan, William H. Davidson, and Rajan Suri, Tracing the Multinationals: A Sourcebook on U.S.-based Enterprises (Cambridge, Mass.: Ballinger, 1977), James W. Vaupel and Joan P. Curhan, The Making of Multinational Enterprises: A Sourcebook of Tables Based on a Study of 187 Major U.S. Manufacturing Corporations (Boston: Division of Research, Harvard Business School, 1969), and James W. Vaupel and Joan P. Curhan, The World’s Multinational Enterprises: A Sourcebook of Tables Based on a Study of the Largest U.S. and Non-U.S. Manufacturing Corporations (Boston: Division of Research, Harvard Business School, 1973). The bulk of the data was gathered from public records (official reports to the SEC, annual reports to stockholders, business histories, business periodicals, etc.). This data was supplemented with interviews with most of the parent companies.