Article title: Multinational mining companies, employment and knowledge transfer: Chile and Norway from ca. 1870 to 1940
Authors: Ranestad, K
Journal: Business History
Bibliometrics: Volume 62, Number 2, pages 197- 221
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00076791.2017.1407313
The above article was intended to publish in this special issue of Business History, guest edited by Adoración Álvaro-Moya, Nuria Puig and Susanna Fellman entitled ‘Foreign Investment and Development of Capabilities in Host Economies’. The article mistakenly appeared in Business History 62.2.
The article’s abstract and citation are provided below, and the piece can be read in full in Business History 62.2 via the DOI above.
Abstract
This article compares employment at multinational mining companies in Chile and Norway from ca. 1870 to 1940. I find that multinationals in Chile recruited foreigners to managing and middle-management positions, while Norwegian workers were heavily involved in management of multinationals in Norway. The exclusion of Chileans encouraged enclave tendencies and prevented knowledge transfer, while strong networks were created between multinationals and the local industry in Norway through job switching. Evidence suggests that local workers were employed if they were qualified and that discrepancies in institutions stimulating capacity building in the two countries largely explain the different employment patterns.