The Largest Non-Financial Multinational Enterprises in the World and Those in Developing and Transition Economies

Purpose: The purpose of the article is to present selected manifestations of the process of approaching the scale of foreign investment activity of entities from developing countries to entities from developed countries, as well as the potential of the largest investors from these two groups of countries. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study is based on information obtained from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and Brand Finance's statistical sources. The study uses statistical and economic analysis, comparison, analogies, synthesis, and the method of measuring and aggregating data and tabular method. The choice of economic parameters presented below and the related parameter formulas, as proposed by the authors, are based on the preliminary query of the scientific literature on the subject. Findings: The FDI outward stock at the end of the second decade of the 21st century show a clear increase in the share of developing countries, however, the distance between them about developed countries is still considerable. The convergence is evidenced, e.g., by the growing share of MNEs in both groups representing highly technologically advanced industries, although in the 100 largest MNEs from developing and transition economies, it is clearly lower. At the same time, significant differences in the structure by countries both in FDI outward stock and in the largest MNEs of the presented groups persist or intensify. Practical Implications: The presented results prove that companies from developing and transition economies find an effective tool for building international competitiveness by making foreign direct investments. Their experiences may serve as an example and encouragement for local companies to undertake an international expansion through capital allocation. Originality/Value: The article presents the process of approaching FDI outward stock from developed and developing and transition economies in the past thirty years. The inference basis was not only data specifying changes in the share of both groups of countries in the value of FDI outward stock, but also data describing the largest MNEs worldwide and MNEs from developing and transition economies. This approach has the value of originality.