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The Demographics of World’s Largest Corporations: Focus on the Different Region Levels

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  • Patrik Vanek

    (Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University in Brno, Zemedelska 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic)

Abstract

We explore the large corporations' corporate headquarters based on their geographical location, age, and sector composition. Companies are divided by global regions, countries, metropolitan areas, and cities to provide a detailed analysis of the ability to produce large companies. It is a descriptive study using a cross-sectional design. The unit of research consists of the world's 2000 largest companies (champions), as reported by Forbes Global 2000 in 2008 and 2022. Our results indicate that East and South Asia strengthened their significance since the Great Recession, North America remained stable, and other regions, including Western Europe, have weakened due to China's rapid growth. We suggest that focusing only on the country and city levels is misleading, and future research should consider the metropolitan regions instead. Our results might interest economic geography researchers and policymakers as they indicate the relative competitiveness of regions in supporting the emergence and growth of champions.

Suggested Citation

  • Patrik Vanek, 2023. "The Demographics of World’s Largest Corporations: Focus on the Different Region Levels," MENDELU Working Papers in Business and Economics 2023-85, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:men:wpaper:85_2023
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Geography of IB activities; MNE performance; headquarters' distribution; corporate demographics; Forbes Global 2000;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F02 - International Economics - - General - - - International Economic Order and Integration
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business

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