Global Electrification: Multinational Enterprise and International Finance in the History of Light and Power, 1878-2007 (Cambridge Studies in the Emergence of Global Enterprise): William J. Hausman, Peter Hertner, Mira Wilkins
Editorial Reviews
Review
“This extensively documented study will be of value not only to scholars interested in the electric industry, but to those studying multinational enterprises, technological diffusion, globalization, and modern history. Highly recommended.” -Choice
“This extensively documented study will be of value not only to scholars interested in the electric industry, but to those studying multinational enterprises, technological diffusion, globalization and modern history. Highly recommended.” -Choice
This book examines how multinational enterprises and international finance influenced the course of electrification around the world. Multinational enterprises played a crucial role in the spread of electric light and power from the 1870s through the first three decades of the twentieth century. Their role did not persist, as over time they exited through “domestication” (buy-outs, confiscations, or other withdrawals), so that by 1978 multinational enterprises in this sector had all but disappeared, replaced by electrical utility providers with national business structures. Yet, in recent years, there has been a vigorous revival. This book, a unique cooperative effort by the three authors and a group of experts from many countries, offers a fresh analysis of the history of multinational enterprise, taking an integrative approach, not simply comparing national electrification experiences, but supplying a truly global account.