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The purpose of this paper is to explore how internationalization has impacted the composition and performance of global companies. Trends among continents, countries and across industries are shown in order to further understand the effects of internationalization on these prominent organizations in our world economy.

This is a descriptive study using a cross‐sectional design. The unit of analysis consists of the companies comprising the world's largest 500 companies as reported by Fortune Magazine in 2009. Secondary data covering more than 30 variables and 500 cases were collected pertaining to these large organizations. The “world's largest 500 companies” is further divided by continents and countries in order to provide detailed cross tab analysis.

Utilizing the Global Industry Standard Classification (GICS), the authors categorized the diversity of firms based upon the type of products or services rendered by the world's largest 500 companies. It was found that these influential global organizations fall under ten broad classifications for industry sectors, with the financial sector being the dominant classification among 101 multinational firms. The results indicated that the USA dominated in all GICS sectors, except for energy. Europe is producing the largest amount of total global revenue at $10 trillion and employs the greatest number of workers, employing some 18,907,256 global employees.

The analysis was not designed to make a generalization for the population of all global organizations.

The authors' research not only identifies and describes these characteristics, but is intended to increase awareness of how internationalization has changed the composition and performance of the world's largest 500 companies over the five‐year period spanning 2005 through 2009.

The development economics of large countries is a subject that studies how large developing countries evolve into developed countries through industrialization and structural transformation. By looking into the economic development of large developing countries in a systematic way, the purpose of this paper is to propose a logical system consisting of research objects, main issues, key principles and development strategies.

A large developing country refers to a country with a dual economic structure; it has a large population, vast territory and great market potential, but is low in labour productivity and per capita income.

The key issue of the large country’s economy is the issue of the size, while the key issue of the developing country’s economy is the issue of the economic structure. Therefore, the key issue of the economy of large developing courtiers lies in both the size and economic structure.

The endogenous capacity of a large country depends on the size of factors and the balance of supply and demand, while the comprehensive advantage of a large country depends on its diversified industrial structure and integration of factors. Based on the basic characteristics and key economic principles, large developing countries should seek endogenous, stable, coordinated and innovative development.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

Building information modelling (BIM) research studies are highly contextual as the contexts provide lenses for interpreting the results. However, there has been a growing decontextualization in extant studies especially between the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large firms; and between developed and developing countries. Albeit these contexts are all in the same construction industry, they often react differently to the same conditions. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the perceptions of firms in varying contexts of size and location on the perceived barriers to the implementation of BIM in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry.

The perceptions of 228 firms gleaned from 26 countries across the 6 continents were collated via an international empirical questionnaire survey. The data was analysed using the mean score, rank agreement analysis, Mann-Whitney U test and factor analysis.

The findings revealed the major factors impending BIM implementation in each of the contexts and a comparative analysis emphasized the difference in their perceptions. The findings underscore that there is a general digital divide as regard BIM implementation between the SMEs and large firms, and a deepening divide between the developed and developing countries.

The study has provided empirical evidence for the BIM divide in the AEC industry, which would influence the promulgation of BIM policy and transferability of best practices across varying contexts of both firm size and country level.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the conditionally expected return on size-based portfolios in an emerging market (EM) is determined by the country’s world risk exposure. The authors analyze the degree of financial integration of 23 emerging equity markets grouped into five size portfolios using the conditional international asset pricing model with both world and domestic market risks. The authors also compare the model’s fitness on the predictability of portfolio returns by using world and EM indices.

This study investigates whether large-cap stocks are priced globally and whether mid- and small-cap stocks are strongly influenced by domestic risk factors. The authors first examine the predictability of large-, mid-, and small-cap stock portfolio returns by using global and local variables, and next compare the model fitness by using world and EM indices on the prediction of size-based stock returns. Finally, the authors test whether the world price of covariance risk is the same for different portfolios.

The authors find that the conditional expected returns of large-cap stocks should be priced by global variables. Mid- and small-cap stocks are influenced by domestic variables rather than global variables, and their returns are priced by local residual risks. The test of the conditional asset pricing model shows that the largest stocks have the smallest mean absolute pricing errors (MAE), and their pricing errors are lower in large markets than in small markets. Third, the EM index offers more predictability for the excess returns of mid- and small-cap stocks than the world market index, but the explanatory power of this index does not increase for large-cap stocks.

EMs in the past were known as segment markets, with local risk factors more important than global risk factors, suggesting significant benefits from adding EMs to global portfolios. It would be interesting to examine whether financial integration differs for various firm sizes in the markets.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) from developing economies has increased sharply since the beginning of the 2000s. While most investment flows correspond to firms from large economies, small developing economies have also witnessed the increase of outward investment flows from their domestic companies. The literature on outward FDI (OFDI) from developing economies has focused mainly on large emerging countries, such as China and India. In the case of small developing economies, for which there is scant empirical evidence, firms willing to invest abroad face a different business environment with several barriers such as a small domestic market to achieve economies of scale and a limited supply of specialised resources. In this setting, the purpose of this paper is to examine firm-level strategies and the home-country effects in a small developing economy.

A research case study is conducted through a representative sample of Costa-Rican firms investing abroad. Costa Rica makes a strong case since it stands out among small developing economies investing abroad in terms of both the number of operations and the amount of OFDI.

The main findings are: outward investment is not only for large and mature firms, as medium and small-sized firms are actively investing abroad; most firms pursue a market-seeking strategy; the benefits for the firm and the home country are stronger when companies follow a clear outward investment strategy; and there is a positive relationship between international trade and OFDI.

This paper provides novel empirical evidence to better understand an emerging trend in OFDI: in an increasingly integrated world economy, even SMEs from small developing economies are compelled to internationalise their operations in order to compete successfully.

This article attempts to answer the following questions: Who ultimately owns firms listed in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries? Does ownership structure depend on the institutional context? How does ownership affect firm performance? Do institutional factors influence the ownership–performance relationship?

We apply univariate analyses and generalised methods of moments estimations for a sample of 692 GCC listed firms during 2009–2015.

Our results reveal that corporations are mainly controlled by the state or families, the ownership structure is highly concentrated and pyramid structures are common in the region. Ownership is more concentrated in non-financial than financial firms, and ownership concentration and shareholder identity differ by institutional country setting. Finally, ownership concentration does not influence performance, but formal institutions play a moderating role in the relationship.

As our findings reveal potential type II agency problems due to ownership concentration, policymakers should raise awareness of professional corporate governance practices and tailor them to GCC countries’ institutional contexts.

Even with the introduction of new regulations by some GCC states to protect minority investors and promote corporate governance practices, ownership concentration is a rigid structure, and its use by investors to protect their economic endowment and power is culturally embedded.

Although previous studies have analysed ownership concentration and large shareholders’ identities across countries, this study fills a research gap investigating this phenomenon in-depth in emerging economies.

This study aims to analyze the effect of female top management and female dominant owner on whether firms experience obstacles to obtaining external finance in 136 medium- and low-income countries during 2006–2019. The analysis controls for the role of corporate governance and other firm-specific characteristics, as well as for the impact of national institutions.

The analysis elucidates the economic and non-economic factors driving female corporate leadership. Further, in order to capture the causal effect, the analysis uses univariate tests, multivariate regression analysis, disaggregation testing, sensitivity and endogeneity analysis to confirm the quality of the estimates. The analysis controls for various additional country-level factors.

The results show that female top management and female ownership are broadly significant determinants of firms' access to external finance, especially in relatively larger and more developed countries. The role of controlling shareholders is significant and mediates the gender effect. The latter appears more pronounced in smaller and medium-size firms, operating in the manufacturing and services sectors as well as in the countries with higher levels of development. This also varies with the countries' macroeconomic conditions and institutions governing gender development and equality as well as institutional governance effectiveness.

The results suggest that firms wishing to improve the firms' access to external finance should consider the role of gender in both top management and corporate ownership coupled with the effect of the specific characteristics of firms and the conditioning role of national institutions.

The study examines the gender effects of top management and dominant ownership for the external financing decisions of firms in low- and middle-income countries, which are underresearched. These gender effects are mitigated in various ways by the specific characteristics of firms and especially on national institutions.

Attempts to discover an internal logic in the high‐speed events taking place in the former Soviet Union. In addressing the problems of the country′s disintegration, examines the issue in its socioeconomic, political and territorial‐administrative aspects. Analyses, for this purpose, the nature of Soviet society prior to Gorbachev′s reforms, its present transitional stage and its probable direction in the near future.

Since 1988 Russia and Korea have been developing bilateral economic relations. After the conclusion of, the first trade agreement, Korea has become one of the largest trading and investment partners of the Russian Far East. Annually, Korea has increased trade and investment flows to the Russian Far East, a region with high growth potential. By the 2000s Korea has become the Russian Far East’s third largest trading partner. This article considers trade and investment flows from the 1990s to the present, analyses the prospects of achieving goals, and the problems of developing further bilateral cooperation between Russia and Korea.