Transnational enterprises and international regulation: A survey of various approaches in international organizations

Increasing attention is being paid to the development of international codes of behavior and rules of law to regulate the behavior of transnational enterprise. Notable steps in this direction have been taken by the United Nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the European Community, the Andean Common Market and various other organizations. The approaches represented by these efforts can be categorized by the use of four models: the Free Market model; the European Community model; the Multinational Consortium approach; and the Development Community approach. These approaches to the problem of regulation differ in the degree to which they impose prior regulation on multinational firms and in whether they permit the firms to operate as integrated systems or impose arms-length standards on parent-subsidiary relations. Each approach has merits, depending on context and the values of the governments involved.