Exploring the Links between International Business and Poverty Reduction: A Case Study of Unilever in Indonesia

Foreign direct investment is recognized to be important for economic development, in terms of wealth creation, employment, skills development, and technology transfer. But there is an ongoing debate about the extent to which these contributions translate into real benefits for people living in poverty.
In an attempt to evaluate the impacts of international business on people living in poverty, two organizations with very different aims and perspectives—Unilever (a major company operating in some of the poorest countries in the world) and Oxfam (an international development and humanitarian organization)—collaborated on an ambitious research project. The research considered the impacts of Unilever Indonesia across the entire business value chain, from producers and suppliers, through the company's core business operations, to its distributors, retailers, and consumers. This report presents the findings of the research. It is a contribution to the debates among the wider business community, governments, civil-society organizations, and academics who seek to understand how the wealth, employment, and products that a large company creates could bring increased benefits to people living in poverty.