ABSTRACT
This chapter surveys the current state of research on the origins and development of global business. Since the middle of the nineteenth century, firms have been the strongest institution to operate across national borders. Multinational firms, defined as firms owning and controlling assets in more than one country, have been major drivers of the trade and capital flows which have characterized the globalization waves since the middle decades of the nineteenth century (Jones, 2005a; Jones, 2014).
