CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTALISM IN DEVELOPING-COUNTRIES - A TALE OF 3 MULTINATIONALS

Multinational corporations bring both economic opportunities and technological hazards to developing countries. Control of such hazards often involves trade-offs between the profit and development objectives of the company and host country on the one hand, and environmental, health, and safety (EH&S) objectives of both parties on the other. Some of these trade-offs are anticipated, while others emerge subtly and unforeseen over the course of negotiation, design, construction, and operation of industrial facilities. Case studies of Occidental Chemical and Du Pont corporations in Thailand, and Xerox Corporation in India, illustrate the dynamics by which economic and EH&S objectives surface and are reconciled by the parent corporation, the host country and, in two cases, the joint venture partner. The chronologies reveal that even environmentally responsible corporations and host governments often work at cross purposes in ways that neither may fully anticipate at the outset of an overseas business venture.