Before the annual "World Investment Report" was officially published in 1991, the United Nations has also had published four related reports on transnational corporations (TNC) and multi-year research on economic development, which are: "Multinational Companies in World Development" (Economic and Social Affairs Division of United Nations Secretary Department, 1973), "Multinational Companies in World Development 2" (Transnational Corporation Center of United Nations, 1978), "Multinational Companies in World Development 3" (Transnational Corporation Center of United Nations, 1983) and "Multinational Companies in World Development 4" (Transnational Corporation Center of United Nations, 1988). These four reports significantly promoted the study of multinational company by attracting the attention from academia and governments to attach more importance to its development and management. From 1991 to 2006, United Nations has published 16 annual "World Investment Report" in total, plus the four reports mentioned above , till 2006, there are 20 reports related to multinational companies and foreign direct investment (FDI) in all.

　　United Nations’ system research and management agency of the transnational corporations and foreign direct investment has witnessed several changes. It is originally under the responsibility of the Economic and Social Affairs Division of United Nations Secretary Department. The job was taken by the United Nations Transnational Corporations Committee and the multinational corporations center (the latter is the permanent offices of the former one), then subsequently by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Development Transnational Corporations and Management Division. Since 1993, UNCTAD has taken in c h a rge of this job. The research and management of the transnational corporations and foreign direct investment agency in UNCTAD has also changed for several times, it was originally called Multinational Companies Project Office, later Transnational Corporations and Investment Division, and now it is called the Investment, Technology and Enterprise Development Division.

　　The official publications of the 20 research report mentioned above are all filed in CRCFDI.