This special issue is based on the assumption that a major feature of emerging market MNCs is their close relationship with their home states. To be sure, many Western MNCs cultivate close relationships with their home states as well (as recently witnessed in the financial sector). However, this special issue investigates whether there is a qualitatively unique relationship between the state and major corporations in emerging economies, which emerging economies in particular display, and how this special relationship affects the cross-border activities of these corporations. In this special issue, we will demonstrate that this special relationship even holds for Brazil, a "least likely" or "crucial" case (Eckstein, 1975) for state permeation among the large emerging markets.