Die bestehenden theoretischen Referenzsysteme betrachten gesamtwirtschaftliche Wachstums- und Effizienzgewinne als die zentralen
wirtschaftspolitischen Implikationen von Globalisierung und Internationalisierung. Die liberale Grundhaltung der Regierungen
vieler Länder, insbesondere der Industrieländer, gegenüber einem freien Welthandel mit uneingeschränkter Faktormobilität wird
von liberalen Ökonomen und Wirtschaftspolitikern häufig mit dieser wohlfahrtsökonomischen Implikation des free trade movement
begründet.
Keywords:Globalisierung und Wirtschaftspolitik. Theoriegrundlagen für eine Neubewertung; The Trend towards Globalization in the Austrian
Economy: Corporate Citizenship as a New Challenge to Policymakers
Forschungsbereich:Makroökonomie und öffentliche Finanzen
Sprache:Deutsch
The Trend towards Globalization in the Austrian Economy: Corporate Citizenship as a New Challenge to Policymakers
The economic policy issue which is central in this article is as follows: Does welfare economics provide a convincing theoretical
rationale for favoring local strategic ownership? If so, one has to look for theoretical concepts which do not directly involve
the concepts of power and interest groups derived from public choice theory and political economy. Above all, this article
emphasizes the importance of corporate citizenship for the attractiveness of a modern, competitive location of business activities.
The typical characteristics of such a location are a closely interlinked system of flexible markets for human capital (managers,
skilled labor), a core of manufacturing high in value-added with a periphery of producer-oriented services, a modern transport
and communications infrastructure, efficient and practice-oriented educational and training facilities, efficient financial
and capital markets with appropriate financial intermediaries (banks, insurance companies) and, above all, an above-average
concentration of central property rights. These locational characteristics are the result of cumulative processes which are
often closely related to the organizational transformations of firms into large corporations. There is empirical evidence
to support the hypothesis that within business firms, departments with high value added and departments with high decision-making
power and responsibility for investment decisions (e.g., top management, planning, research and development, sophisticated
production units, etc.), as well as centers of competence of multinational firms will remain in the country of the parent
company. To a high extent the parent companies of multinational firms in turn are based in the country which is home to the
most important owners. For a region in which the headquarters of a company are located, this constellation results in a high
overall economic potential with positive external effects, such as regarding skilled labor, research and development, as well
as external corporate monitoring and controlling. This article also emphasizes that strategic corporate ownership and the
associated monitoring function can best be exercized on the basis of the large-shareholder principle. Given the importance
of imperfect market and information structures, large-shareholdership is considered the more efficient and competent form
of external monitoring and screening of firms by their owners than dispersed ownership. In general, strategic owners or large
shareholders solve the agency problem between owners and management more efficiently, because as a rule they are not only
better informed, but also maintain a longer-term interest in the firm than small shareholders.