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.

由雷蒙德·弗农（Raymond Vernon）于1965年至1973年主导的跨国企业研究（Multinational Enterprise Study，亦称“跨国项目”及“跨国企业与民族国家项目”），共收集了全球顶级制造业企业旗下超3.5万家海外子公司的发展数据。该数据分两阶段采集：1965年至1969年，研究团队针对187家总部位于美国的顶级制造业企业的约1万家海外子公司开展调研，追溯了这些子公司自1900年至1968年1月1日的发展历程；1971年至1973年，研究团队针对226家总部位于美国以外的顶级制造业企业的超1.5万家海外子公司采集数据，追溯其自1900年至1971年1月1日的发展轨迹。根据与参与本次研究的企业达成的协议，本研究数据中已隐去所有母公司的个体名称。此前该数据的公开应用主要依托三部已出版的学术成果：琼·P·柯汉（Joan P. Curhan）、威廉·H·戴维森（William H. Davidson）与拉詹·苏里（Rajan Suri）合著的《追踪跨国企业：美国总部企业资料集》（马萨诸塞州剑桥：巴林格出版社，1977年）；詹姆斯·W·沃佩尔（James W. Vaupel）与琼·P·柯汉合著的《跨国企业的诞生：基于187家美国顶级制造业企业研究的表格资料集》（波士顿：哈佛商学院研究部，1969年）；以及詹姆斯·W·沃佩尔与琼·P·柯汉合著的《全球跨国企业：基于美国及非美国顶级制造业企业研究的表格资料集》（波士顿：哈佛商学院研究部，1973年）。该数据集的主体数据来源于公开记录（包括美国证券交易委员会（Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC）官方报告、股东年度报告、企业发展史、商业期刊等），并辅以对多数母公司的访谈资料。