There's something very restful about Costa Rica's rainforest. The air is warm, humid and clean. In 1992 Merck, the world's largest pharmaceutical company, and InBio, a Costa Rican nonprofit research center committed to cataloging the country's half-million insects and plants, arranged a mutually beneficial joint venture. Part of the money would be used to fund rainforest preservation. The controversial Merck-lNBio venture is among the case studies in an international research project exploring the impact of transnational corporations on the developing world.
Transnational corporations have the power to do good and bad, at home and abroad.
Harnessing socially and environmentally responsible behavior, and putting a stop to harmful corporate deeds, are important steps in countering the damaging effects of globalization. CEP and New Consumer are researching model initiatives. Negative examples of transnational corporations' involvement in developing countries are well known, says Leipziger. The success stories are not, despite their relevance to other companies and to the development process in Latin America, Africa and Asia. The Merck-lNBio venture is heralded by some as a benchmark initiative to curb exploitation and cultivate corporate responsibility in developing countries.