Profit and Power

Reviews / Votes

'Ronen Palan's new book argues that today's most successful firms are centrally coordinated multi-corporate enterprises that earn their profits from intangible assets and jurisdictional arbitrage, exploiting cross-border differences in government policies and regulations. The book explores corporate strategies that exploit these legal gray areas and their broader implications for wealth, power and capitalism.' Lorraine Eden, Adjunct Professor of Law and Professor Emerita of Management, Texas A & M University 'This is a pathbreaking book in International Relations. Everyone in the field will want to understand Palan's breakthrough concept of jurisdictional arbitrage and its role in the global economy. Everyone in International Political Economy will want to read the book closely and take its argument into account.' Craig N. Murphy, Past-President of the International Studies Association and recipient of its Distinguished Scholar Awards in International Organization and International Political Economy 'Palan's deeply revisionist analysis of the multinational firm shows how they use jurisdictional arbitrage to legally evade taxation and regulation in pursuit of power in the distributional struggle among firms and between firms and states. It's essential for understanding how the global economy actually works.' Herman Mark Schwartz, University of Virginia 'Palan's insights about contemporary capitalism are more profound than those of any other author I know. 'Profit and Power' strips away what we think we know about value, the corporation and globalization before revealing how the alchemy of corporate arbitrage situates us in a very different economy than we imagine.' J. C. Sharman, University of Cambridge