EMPLOYEE BENEFITS FOR NATIONAL EMPLOYEES OF MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS IN LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES: A STUDY OF CORPORATE PRACTICES AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR STANDARDS OF LIVING AND OLD AGE INCOME SECURITY IN INDONESIA, MALAYSIA, AND THE PHILIPPINES (SOC

Industrialization, urbanization, increasing life expectancies and the stresses that these phenomena place on traditional extended family support systems have spurred the growth of pensions, other employee benefits, and social insurance in less developed countries (LDC's).;Data for the study were based on personal interviews, on information contained in MNC subsidiary benefit plans and on written questionnaires. More than one hundred international benefits managers, consultants, insurance company representatives and academics were interviewed by phone and in person. Twenty participated in an in-depth study. These represented nine Fortune 500 MNC's, three consulting firms and two insurance companies serving MNC clients.;The study identifies eight major benefits, including health and retirement and describes their resemblance to the major benefits offered in MDC's. A number of minor benefits are culturally specific, such as a rice allowance at retirement.;Data showed that the number of times MNC's chose to offer a voluntary benefit equaled the number of times they chose to offer benefits meeting only the required minimum statutory requirements.;This dissertation presents the results of an exploratory study of employee benefits and social insurance in three countries in Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia and The Philippines. It focuses in particular on employee benefits offered to indigenous workers in those countries by American multinational corporations (MNC's). The study looks in depth at the rationale, factors, and decision-making criteria that underlie corporate decisions on foreign benefits.;The study identifies and ranks in importance twenty-five factors that enter into MNC decisions to offer a voluntary benefit. It also identifies and ranks twenty-six criteria by which corporate international benefits managers assess subsidiary proposals for benefit plan change.;Findings indicate that increasing numbers of indigenous workers as well as host governments may look to private employee benefits in general and MNC sponsored benefits specifically to play an increasingly larger role in improving employee standards of living during employment and income security in retirement. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)...