The 2025 edition of the Emerging Market Multinationals Report celebrates 10 years. The report examines the transformations in the global political environment in recent years and their impact on emerging markets. We also analyze leading companies from emerging economies and trace the evolution of their foreign investment strategies, with a particular focus on greenfield and cross-border mergers and acquisitions.

Download the 2025 report

The 2024 edition of the Emerging Market Multinationals Report delves into the robust landscape of emerging markets, which are not just surviving but keep on growing, amidst global economic flux. ‘Innovation and Transformation to Emerge Stronger’ offers a detailed exploration of how these dynamic economies are harnessing cutting-edge innovations and strategic transformations to redefine their paths to growth. From groundbreaking technological advancements to transformative economic policies, our report provides a comprehensive analysis of the key drivers propelling emerging markets towards resilience and prosperity.

Download the 2024 report

The Emerging Markets Report has played a crucial role in documenting and gathering benchmark data on the rise of global companies from emerging markets. The report has also enhanced our understanding of the complex dynamics of business in emerging markets and their vital role in supporting global growth. The global landscape has undergone substantial transformations since the first edition of the report almost a decade ago, transitioning from the prevailing optimism of that time to the uncertain and complex world of today, a world barely emerging from the COVID, confronted with mounting geopolitical tensions, and embroiled in major conflicts.

Download the 2023 report

The global economy has gone from one crisis to another over the past few years. The COVID pandemic was not over yet when the war in Ukraine erupted, adding to the uncertainty of the times. The October 2022 World Bank/IMF growth projections are down again, and even if economies are not affected in the same way, all are impacted. Among emerging economies, oil, gas, and commodity producers may fare better, while others will see their situation further aggravated because of rising food and energy prices. Global value chains (GVCs) have been one of the backbones of globalization, interconnecting economies all over the world, and bringing into the production line many countries that were not part of the traditional production and trade networks. Decades of liberalization enabled GVCs to develop based on economic rather than political imperatives. But this has changed since the Global Financial Crisis and the ensuing recession. The US-China trade war is an illustration of this progressive shift. The COVID pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine have further highlighted the increasing role of governments in business and economics and exposed the vulnerabilities of global value chains. Added to that the climate change imperatives and societal demands, and we can see that we are entering a period of profound transformation of GVCs.

Download the 2022 report

The previous five EMI reports covered the international expansion of the Emerging Market Multinationals (eMNCs). Led by Chinese companies mainly, eMNCs have become global and a force to reckon both in greenfield and M&A overseas investments. The 2021 edition of the Emerging Market Multinationals Reports from the Emerging Markets Institute in Cornell University will mark the start of a second decade for the Institute and a new phase in the global economy. In a post-pandemic world, this new decade may well be “the decade of Emerging Markets” as some experts claim. The 2020s are also likely to be a decade where ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) concerns will be crucial issues for business, including those in emerging economies. With the USA rejoining the Paris agreement, environmental concerns will need to be solved by all stakeholders including firms. Scrutiny of the firms’ governance including ethical behaviour and diversity of boards and top management will become a concern for all. But, most importantly, social issues comprising poverty and inequality will need to be part of a firm’s strategy. Clients, partners, employees and society at large expect firms to be part of the change for good.

Download the 2021 report

The 2020 edition of the Emerging Market Multinationals Reports at the Emerging Markets Institute in Cornell University closes a five-year cycle. Authored by Lourdes Casanova and Anne Miroux, the Report aimed at contributing to a better understanding of firms from emerging markets and their home economies. This year, the Report looks back at the past decade, stressing how profoundly it transformed emerging markets. With growing economies and playing an increasing role in world trade and investment while emerging as key actors in global innovation and technology, they have consolidated their position in world affairs. The rise of emerging market multinationals, at the center of the Report since its inception, is a vivid illustration of their increasing clout in the global economy. The 2020 report thus reviews some of the corporate characteristics of emerging market multinationals and how they evolved over time. Based on a wealth of quantitative information and illustrative case studies, it highlights the remarkable headways of these enterprises in global business, and their contribution to the changing global innovation and technology landscape. With the COVID crisis, 2020 is also a year of rupture and the Report explores some of the consequences of this crisis for emerging markets and the global economy.

Download the 2020 report

Authored by Lourdes Casanova and Anne Miroux, the fourth edition focuses on how these companies fuel the creation of more stable and better-paid jobs, provide resources to conduct research and foster innovation, as well as contribute to the development of small- and medium- sized companies. The rise of Chinese multinationals as measured by their presence on the 2019 Fortune Global 500 rankings has been remarkable and the research explores the specific firms that turbocharge FDI from emerging market countries and compares them to developed markets such as the U.S. and Japan. The report also includes the description of innovation leadership from emerging markets, in particular the case of Huawei, the most emblematic of Chinese firms in innovation, global reach, and impact, as demonstrated by its visibility in the press. The report pays particular attention this year to the rising economic engagement of China in Latin America and Africa, highlighting its increasing role as a key source of finance for both continents through FDI and lending. In Latin America, though lending does not dominate the picture as it does in Africa, in some years China has been the largest source of development finance, even surpassing major development banks. In both cases, Chinese lending and FDI increased significantly over the past decade. Finally, chapters from Wuhan University in China, Universidad de los Andes in Colombia, Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico, Universidad del Norte in Colombia and OECD’s EMnet complement the report.

Download the 2019 report

Since the turn of the century, the expansion of enterprises from emerging economies, the so-called emerging market multinationals (EMNCs), has been remarkable. The Emerging Market Multinationals Report (EMR)series, produced by Cornell University, delves into this issue and its broader implications on the global economy. The EMR 2018, by Drs Lourdes Casanova and Anne Miroux, looks at how EMNCs – led by Chinese firms – are continuing their ascension as active global acquirers and pursuers of further brand and product market differentiation. In the report, the authors also examine the implications of the drastic changes in the global economy in the past eighteen months, and explore the growing soft power of emerging economies as illustrated by the launch of initiatives such as the Chinese Belt and Road.

Download the 2018 report

The Emerging Market Multinationals Report (EMR) series is a comprehensive exploration on the rise of Emerging Market Multinationals (EMNCs) [i]and its broader implications. This report is the second edition of the series. The authors, Lourdes Casanova and Anne Miroux examine the resilience of emerging economies in today’s challenging global environment and their growing importance as foreign investors across all regions of the world. It also unpacks the role of outward FDI policies and their development phases as reflected in the cases of China, South Korea, and Brazil. In turn, it explores how these trends impact the expansion of EMNCs and their breakthrough in the global corporate world. The report includes contributions from the OECD and other partners, which hone in on the specificities of the latest developments in Latin American and Asian emerging markets in collaboration with the OECD.

Download the 2017 report

The first Emerging Market Multinationals Report (EMR) explores how Emerging economies have gained ground in wealth and influence over the past two decades, bringing about radical changes in the global economic landscape. The rise of their multinationals, the so-called emerging market multinationals (or EMNCs), is an illustration of this phenomenon. Lourdes Casanova and Anne Miroux look at the overseas expansion of EMNCs has indeed been remarkable: for instance about 20% of global outward FDI flows today are accounted for by a group of 20 top emerging economies[1], the E20; that share was 2% at the turn of the century. Not only have emerging market multinationals significantly increased their investment abroad; they have also made significant inroads in the global corporate world. For instance, today, about 30% of the firms in the Fortune Global 500 list (based on revenues) are enterprises from emerging markets; they were less than 10% ten years ago. True, China leads the trend: with 98 companies, it ranks second in term of number of Fortune 500 firms – not that far from the US (128), and much more than the number 3, Japan (54). However a wide array of emerging economies is represented: 14 countries of the above mentioned E20 grouping are represented in the Fortune Global 500 list (sometimes with only one entry in the list). The new players come in particular from China, Korea, India, Brazil, Russia, Mexico and Indonesia.

Download the 2016 report