Paradigm Fundamentals and the Practical Dilemma of Investment Behaviour of Transnational Corporations

International investment, and the related behaviour of the main actors of the world economic landscape - transnational corporations (TNCs), is one of the fundamental concepts of economic science, the theoretical research of the essence and economic content of which has been continued by scientists for a long time. The article is devoted to a comprehensive study of the globalization paradigm of the investment behaviour of transnational corporations; the genesis of theories is consistently studied and the semantic chains of the conceptual apparatus related to the terms of capital, international investment and investment behaviour of TNCs are revealed; clarification is offered to understand the concepts of investment and international investment in modern conditions. A comprehensive comparative characterization of investment object definition models is carried out. Modern features of the investment activity of transnational corporations and its transformations under the influence of a dynamic global environment are analysed. The authors analyse various theoretical approaches to the interpretation of the concept of «investment behavior», reveal the dilemma of essential identification of the concept of investment behaviour of transnational corporations, outline a number of criterial characteristic features of manifestations of TNC's investment behaviour. On this basis, the main types of investment behaviour of transnational companies are determined: super-expansive, expansive, liberal, conservative, mixed. The characteristic features and motives of investment behaviour inherent in each of the specified types are detailed. It is determined that the degree of reactivity of the world community and international and national regulators to manifestations of excessive expansiveness or intolerance of corporations is a factor in ensuring the positive performance of corporate investments. The authors study the dynamics and scale of transnational direct foreign investments by regions of the world, as well as the factors that most significantly affect them in view of the trends in the development of the modern global economy. It is indicated that in periods of turbulence, not only the strategy of international corporations, but also their investment behaviour is transformed in order to resist the influence of crisis factors by applying appropriate management methods. The article analyses the key contradictions between the investment interests of TNCs and host countries, a