The article is a rare investigation into multinational activity in a wealthy resource-based colonial economy toward the end of the first wave of globalization. It challenges the conventional wisdom that multinationals had a limited presence in pre-1914 Australia, where government loans and portfolio investment from Britain into infrastructural and primary industries dominated. Our new database of nearly five hundred foreign firms, from various nations and spread across the host economy, shows a thriving and diverse international business community whose agency mattered for economic development in Australia. Colonial ties, natural resources, stable institutions, and high incomes all attracted foreign firms.

中文翻译：

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投资于富裕的、以资源为基础的殖民经济：一战前澳大利亚的国际业务

这篇文章罕见地调查了第一波全球化浪潮即将结束时，以丰富的资源为基础的殖民经济中的跨国活动。它挑战了传统观点，即跨国公司在 1914 年之前在澳大利亚的存在有限，那里的政府贷款和英国对基础设施和第一产业的证券投资占主导地位。我们的新数据库包含来自不同国家并遍布东道国经济体的近 500 家外国公司，显示出蓬勃发展且多元化的国际商业社区，其机构对澳大利亚的经济发展至关重要。殖民地关系、自然资源、稳定的制度和高收入都吸引了外国公司。