Multinationals, as most people would know, recognize, admire, fear, and criticize, have been variously characterized for more than three decades. In the 1970s, an American, a British, or a European company that had subsidiaries in two or more countries was called a multinational corporation. In the 1980s, considering the history of foreign investment, a variety of nonmanufacturing companies—such as banks, insurance companies, and trading companies— also came to be recognized as multinational companies
