Multinational Corporations and Service Provision in Sub‐Saharan Africa: Legitimacy and Institutionalization Matter

This article considers attempts by multinational corporations to provide services in areas of limited statehood. Under which conditions are such attempts effective? We make two arguments: First, they must be legitimate to be effective. Second, the institutional design of the firms’ service provision programs is an important factor for their effectiveness. We assess these arguments by analyzing multinationals in the S outh A frican car industry fighting HIV / AIDS , and international mining firms in S outh A frica and the D emocratic R epublic of C ongo trying to improve public security. The analysis demonstrates that under conditions of legitimacy and high degrees of institutionalization firm programs effectively contribute to service provision in areas of limited statehood.