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Abstract
The appearance and the role of multinational firms in the agribusiness sector need analyses using several approaches : International Statistics, national studies of concentration and competition, case studies of firms. The author finds a statistical correlation between the size of the international market of a country (measured in 1924 billion dollars PNB) and the number of multinational firms (defined as the existing settlements in at least two different countries) which originate in that country. One billion dollars is necessary for a country to hold head quarters of six multinationals (all industries agregated) and the number is ten times larger for agribusiness, chemistry and mechanics industries taken one at a time. But other factors than PNB seem to play a role, in particular income per head. After commenting briefly the other approaches, the author regrets in the conclusion the lack of efforts committed to that domain and particularly for agricultural input industries.