MNEmerge is a collaborative research project funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under Grant Agreement No. 612889. Its aim is to provide a comprehensive framework for understanding the impact of multinational enterprises (MNEs) on United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in developing countries using case studies, quantitative data as well as policy analysis.
The consortium that has been assembled for this project has been an active contributor to the multinationals research already before the project and it has extensive expertise on studying societal problems in emerging markets. The research during the project will combine the strengths of the partners and it will be carried out by an international, interdisciplinary team involving researchers from Finnish, British and Dutch institutes as well as Indian, Ghanaian and Brazilian organisations. The issues studied in this project are varied but there is a common thread uniting all of its sub-themes, they all relate to how MNEs manage their activities in one of the following areas: FDI, business functioning, technology and innovation strategies, corporate philanthropy or socially responsible investment. We analyse in detail how these issues can contribute to the attainment of poverty alleviation, food security, health security, environmental security and electrification in developing countries.
The project has four broad goals:
- 1. Development of a framework to analyse MNE impact towards socio-economic development;
- 2- Development of a model that describes the relationship between MNE, FDI and the economy;
- 3- Analyse of the role of public policies in supporting responsible business practices and the Millennium Development Goals; and
- 4- Provide case studies and quantitative analysis to support the methodological framework model on health, environment and energy.
Fieldwork during the project takes place in three developing countries on three different continents, namely Brazil, Ghana and India. During the project we hope to identify modes of MNE collaboration with societal stakeholders, and which permit business sustainability while simultaneously ensuring sustainable development of the society. We will also develop tools and aids for decision making that can facilitate the implementation project recommendations. The duration of the project is 3 years starting from January 2014.
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Lappeenranta University of Technology | Finland |
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Kings College London | United Kingdom |
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Brunel University | United Kingdom |
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Oxford University | United Kingdom |
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University of Turku | Finland |
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UNU-MERIT | Netherlands |
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Public Health Foundation of India | India |
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Science and Technology Policy Research Institute | Ghana |
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INESC-Brazil | Brazil |