Multinationals old and new: the case of energy

Present theories on multinational corporations (MNCs) and technology transferhave achieved several! major breakthroughs. They are schematically summarized in thiswork as the “established theoretical synthesis”, resulting from the contribution of threemajor theoretical currents: the product cycle, the industrial organization and the theoryof foreign direct investment based on comparative advantages. This paper challenges theassumptions of this synthesis: according to the author, it is but a raw conceptual mix oftheoretical generalizations based only on the manufacturing sector of American and BritishMNCs. As an alternative, the author compares that synthesis with evidence coming fromone of the most active sectors in the North-South technology transfer: the energy industry.The comparison will allow to shed some light on the limits of the theoretical model whenapplied to a non-manufacturing industry, and to the relationship between developing anddeveloped countries. JEL Classification: L22; L94.