Transfer Pricing in the Multinational Firm

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The spread of decentralized corporate operations has been accompanied by widespread utilization Of the profit center concept to measure, evaluate, and motivate divisional management. As the implications of the profit center idea have been recognized, the need has arisen for rational systems to price intra-company transfers of goods at varying stages of production. The aim, in general, has been to devise methods which would satisfy' the goals of divisional managers to earn adequate profit for their divisions, while simultaneously furthering corporate profit goals. In single country Operations, the system is meant to function for this purpose and to provide a foundation for a properly Operating control system. But when a company operates across national borders and exports its practice of decentralized management, with all the accompanying apparatus, new complicating dimensions are added. In international business, there are Opportunities to maximize profits which may override the significance of a control system and the transfer pricing mechanism. Likewise, this environment contains threats to international firms, often unforeseen and, even when perceived, seldom factored into control systems.

The spread of decentralized corporate operations has been accompanied by widespread utilization Of the profit center concept to measure, evaluate, and motivate divisional management. As the implications of the profit center idea have been recognized, the need has arisen for rational systems to price intra-company transfers of goods at varying stages of production. The aim, in general, has been to devise methods which would satisfy' the goals of divisional managers to earn adequate profit for their divisions, while simultaneously furthering corporate profit goals. In single country Operations, the system is meant to function for this purpose and to provide a foundation for a properly Operating control system. But when a company operates across national borders and exports its practice of decentralized management, with all the accompanying apparatus, new complicating dimensions are added. In international business, there are Opportunities to maximize profits which may override the significance of a control system and the transfer pricing mechanism. Likewise, this environment contains threats to international firms, often unforeseen and, even when perceived, seldom factored into control systems.