Profit and Power (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781009605274)

Why are Multinational Corporations so powerful and elites so wealthy while still operating within nation-state rules? Profit and Power examines how firms engage in legal transgression, operating at the edges of legality to maximize profits. Offering a practical analysis of jurisdictional arbitrage, Ronen Palan exposes the hidden mechanisms behind corporate power in globalization and reveals how the rule-based transgressor elite emerged through strategic use of MNC structures. Tracing the origins to the late nineteenth century, Palan focuses on centrally-coordinated multi-corporate enterprises (CCMCEs) - networks of legally independent yet interconnected firms. He explores the gap between the legal entity and the corporate group, a loophole long exploited to arbitrage national regulations, including taxation. This is the first systematic study of jurisdictional arbitrage and its impact on states and society. By analysing corporate decision-making within fragmented regulatory environments, it unveils the systemic role of legal ambiguity in shaping modern capitalism and corporate dominance.

Author: Ronen Palan
ISBN-10: 1009605275
ISBN-13: 9781009605274
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 01/22/2026
Pages: 270
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.17lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.63d