At the beginning of the second half of the XX century, the famousFuturologist J. K. Galbraith devoted to the analysis of the role of the corporation the work "New Industrial Society", where he noted that two types of corporations - the world of corporations and the sphere of small proprietors, which differed greatly from one another, were formed. The one that is represented by large corporations, the scientist called the "industrial system", in it, as a rule, the index of industrial production is most optimal. The largest corporations are the core of the industrial system, which acts as the defining characteristic of industrial society.
And although at the beginning of the 21st century"Post-industrial society", "information", "knowledge", etc. The industrial basis has retained its importance in full. In recent decades, in the media, corporations and especially TNCs have been criticized and in many cases not without reason. This can be confirmed by a report at the World Economic Forum (Davos), initiated by 40 leading corporate managers from 16 countries and working in 18 industries. The report noted that urgent measures should be taken to restore confidence in corporations. Of all the tasks of competitiveness, such as the index of industrial production, controllability and trust on the part of society, the central issue is the last problem - trust.
Approximately from the end of the last century in business,political and scientific circles there is a distinct tendency to rethink the social role of corporate capital. But this does not mean, however, a direct return to the principles and norms of social responsibility of business at the beginning of the second half of the 20th century.
But all the same it is impossible to forget about the contribution of TNCs to the NTP,increase in employment, investment activity and development of nation-states in general. So, in 2004, out of the world's 100 largest TNCs, 85 were based in the EU, Japan and the United States. TNCs today provide the most optimal index of industrial production - the main parameter of the dynamics of the aggregate value of industrial production, which reflects the ratio of current GDP in monetary terms to GDP in another period.
The most important feature of the development of moderncorporations have their integration, which is understood as a system of spatial interactions for the free movement of capital. Today, the GDP produced by corporations accounts for about 60% of world GDP. And the number of employees is almost 57 million people. TNCs account for almost 1/2 of R & D expenditure and 2/3 for research and development. Corporations also demonstrate a stable index of output, although this indicator is relative, but it fairly objectively reflects the dynamics of changes in the volume of material goods without taking into account price changes.
It is also difficult to overestimate the importance of internalmarkets of TNCs. The total index of production costs, depending on the parameters of the cost of production and the magnitude of the volumes of these types of products, largely contributes to maintaining a sustainable purchasing power.
The economic activity of corporations ismainly regional character, therefore a high index of industrial production is the property of a small group of countries. Today, about 72% of the turnover of the five hundred largest corporations belongs to the markets of the countries of the region where they belong. Such a strategy of corporations is quite understandable from the point of view of the theory of transnational costs.
In addition, the corporation manifests itself not onlyas an economic institution, but also as a significant social one, because the economic indicators of the activities of corporations make it possible to draw a conclusion about their mass influence on social development, provided, of course, that this influence is positive.
