Hymer, Stephen Herbert (1934–1974): The MNE and International Business

We critically assess, build upon and extend the contribution of Stephen Hymer to the theory of the multinational enterprise (MNE) and international business (IB) scholarship. We claim that Hymer was able to raise questions of fundamental importance, provide answers and proceed to predictions, mostly of superior insight. We also discuss a number of limitations of his work and conclude that despite these limitations Hymer had a powerful framework and a sharp analytical mind that allowed him to become the pioneer and indeed the father figure of the theory of the MNE, FDI and IB scholarship. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.