한국기업의 다국적화: 경제사회학적 해석

Abstract

This study explains why is the multinationalization of the Korean large corporations, the chaebols, in the early 1990s characterized as 'rush and hush.' The result shows that the hurriedness, ill-preparedness, and band-wagoning in the multinationalization of the Korean corporations are embedded in the historically constructed relationship between the state and the chaebols, rampant rivalry among chaebols, and the characteristic of the governance structure of the state and the large corporations. The particular form of the multinationalization is the result of amalgam of interests of the President who responded imprompt way against the challenge of globalization in the world capitalist system level and the interests of the CEOs of the chaebols who rushed in utilizing the opportunity that are supposed to open by the state. It was a regression of the state-chaebol relationship in the liberalized global era to the past authoritarian state-led industrialization era. This study shows that the theoretical explanations of neoclassical economics, management science, and political economics are inadequate in explaining the multinationalization of the Korean corporations. The economic sociological perspective which incorporates the historically constructed relationship between the state and the large corporations, the rivalry among big corporations, the governance structure of the state and the corporations, and the corporate culture is proved to be fruitful as an alternative.