This commentary examines the political power of digital multinational companies (MNCs). Our review of the existing literature finds that comparative scholarship has focused on state-business relationships at the country level and sheds light on the sources of power flowing from the positions of digital companies in national political economies. However, to a lesser extent, comparativists have studied the power flowing from digital companies within global network structures. To address this research gap, this commentary makes two contributions to the literature. First, it systematizes extant scholarship and expands it by bringing together two different strands of literature – comparative political economy scholarship on business power and scholarship on interdependence in global networks in international relations and international political economy – to illuminate the power of digital MNCs in an era of geo-technological competition. Second, this commentary identifies factors countervailing the power of digital MNCs: replacement networks, international regimes, and mutual interdependence.
