Editing Multinational corporation (section)

===Colonialism===
{{See also|Charter company|Neocolonialism}}The history of multinational corporations began with the [[history of colonialism]]. The first multinational corporations were founded to set up colonial "factories" or port cities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gelderblom |first1=Oscar |last2=Jong |first2=Abe de |last3=Jonker |first3=Joost |date=December 2013 |title=The Formative Years of the Modern Corporation: The Dutch East India Company VOC, 1602-1623 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-economic-history/article/abs/formative-years-of-the-modern-corporation-the-dutch-east-india-company-voc-16021623/E16FF67D27465278E442A974954741BB |journal=The Journal of Economic History |language=en |volume=73 |issue=4 |pages=1050–1076 |doi=10.1017/S0022050713000879 |issn=0022-0507|hdl=1765/32952 |s2cid=154592596 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The two main examples were the [[British East India Company]] founded in 1600 and the [[Dutch East India Company]] (VOC) founded in 1602. In addition to carrying on trade between Great Britain and its colonies, the British East India Company became a quasi-government in its own right, with local government officials and its own army in India.<ref>Alex Jeffrey and Joe Painter, "Imperialism and Postcolonialism," in ''Political Geography: An Introduction to Space and Power'' (London: SAGE, 2009), pp. 174–75.</ref><ref>Nick Robins, ''This Imperious Company: The Corporation That Changed the World How the East India Company Shaped the Modern Multinational'' (London: Pluto, 2006), pp. 24–25.</ref> Other examples include the [[Swedish Africa Company]] founded in 1649 and the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] founded in 1670.<ref>Stephen A. Royle, ''Company, Crown and Colony: The Hudson's Bay Company and Territorial Endeavor in Western Canada'' (London: I.B. Tauris, 2011).</ref> These early corporations engaged in [[international trade]] and exploration and set up trading posts.<ref name="Micklethwait, John 2003">Micklethwait, John, and Adrian Wooldridge, ''The company: A short history of a revolutionary idea'' (New York: Modern Library, 2003).</ref>

The Dutch government took over the VOC in 1799, and during the 19th century, other governments increasingly took over private companies, most notably in British India.<ref>Nick Robins, Nick. The Corporation That Changed the World How the East India Company Shaped the Modern Multinational. London: Pluto, 2006. 145.</ref> During the process of [[decolonization]], the European colonial [[charter companies]] were disbanded, with the final colonial corporation, the [[Mozambique Company]], dissolving in 1972.<ref name="Micklethwait, John 2003"/>