The (COVID-19) Pandemic and the New World (Dis)Order

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic produced a significant environmental jolt that has altered the trajectories of economies and institutions and the strategies of MNEs. We examine the pandemic effects on countries’ political and regulatory institutions, the interplay between their formal and informal institutions and the resulting environmental uncertainty. These changes are transforming the global landscape, MNEs’ raison d’etre and their international strategies. MNEs are having to change or develop new country- and firm-specific advantages, refashion their FDI, focus supply chain networks, and emphasize regional strategies and localization. Although these strategies may help them to bound uncertainty, they produce other forms of risk. A new economic order is likely to arise along with transformed MNEs.