Multinationals in the Knowledge Economy : A case study of AstraZeneca in Sweden

• Multinational companies play a large and growing role in the world economy. Theycontribute about 10 percent to world GDP and about two thirds to global exports. Inthe vast majority of the countries in the world, the presence of multinationals has alsobeen growing over time. This report presents a case study of the role of a large multinational company, activein one of the most R&D and knowledge intensive industries of the world, withestablishments in a small open economy. The case study examines the role ofAstraZeneca in the Swedish economy, i.e. an economy dominated by multinationalcompanies. They account for almost all of Sweden’s aggregate investments in privateR&D, over 90 percent of the country’s exports and imports as well as a significantshare of the total number of employees in the private sector. The analyses in the reportmake it possible to assess the importance of the local presence of such a largeknowledge-intensive multinational for Sweden.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Nationalekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Economics (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Knowledge economy

multinational companies

AstraZeneca

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

rap (subject category)