The Impact of Large Firms in Promoting Economic Growth, Exports and Regional Integration: A Chandlerian Perspective with Emphasis on East Asia

Chandler’s work is well known. He has amply demonstrated that large firms played a huge role in the economic take-off and development of countries such as Germany and especially the USA. In this paper his thesis is extended to the whole world, by considering various countries, economically integrated regions, their exports and economic achievement. The largest firms in the world are examined in this context. Chandler’s thesis is thus confirmed with this analysis and some quantitative evidence is provided in that respect. In particular, Korea’s position is quite strong in the region of East Asia following Japan’s leadership. This paper also demonstrates that SMEs role in economic development without the presence of large firms would be rather limited. Last but not least, integration seems to take place even without the existence of formal agreements due to the presence of large firms.