THE LARGEST WORLD’S TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS: SHIFTS IN COUNTRIES' AND SECTORS' AFFILIATION

Abstract

The article aims to identify the main patterns in the geography of registration as well as the dynamics of the industrial structure and economic indicators of the largest transnational corporations (TNCs).The methodology of the analysis is based on the principles of a systematic approach and the method of comparative analysis using mathematical-statistical, graphical, and cartographic methods. The information base for the analysis is taken from the Fortune Global 500 data for the period from 1995 to 2021. It is shown that the strengthening of the role and importance of TNCs in the global economy is associated not only with an increase in their number, an increase in their sales and profit. The geography of basing their production capacities is expanding. The importance of TNCs in developing countries is growing (mainly due to China).The paper reveals a rapid growth of Chinese corporations, many of which have moved to the very top of the table of ranks of the world’s largest TNCs in terms of sales volumes. The total number of Chinese TNCs in the Fortune Global 500 list has now surpassed the number of American corporations. Meanwhile, the overallnumber of TNCs and the sales volumes of corporations inthese two countries taken alone (USA and China) exceeded 50% of the list of 500 largest world corporations. The greatest growth in production and financial performance is shown to be characteristic of the sectors of the economy associated with digital technologies. The study reveals the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global rating of the largest TNCs and their economic indicators. There has occurred a significant redistribution of rating positions of the largest TNCs: sales volumes of TNCs specializing in heavy industries has decreased worldwide (which has led to the lowering of their positions). At the same time, other corporations, primarily trade ones, have risen, with a particularly rapid growth of the e-commerce sectoras well as pharmaceutical manufacturers. Some of them came to fall under the category of the largest for the first time.