This book gets to the root of how and why multinational firms differ in the cross-border creation, transfer and diffusion of technology, and provides fresh evidence on the effects that these differences have on productivity and innovation in the economic systems in which they are active. Davide Castellani and Antonello Zanfei consider multinationals as heterogeneous institutions that combine internal networks of subsidiaries with external networks of collaborative linkages, to bridge different economic and innovation systems. They examine heterogeneity in productivity and innovative behaviour between multinational and national firms, as well as across and within multinationals. The authors argue that not every foreign firm is a good source of externality, and not every domestic firm is equally well placed to benefit from multinationals. It is shown that spillovers from multinationals differ according to the technological profiles, embeddedness and linkage creation of both foreign and domestic firms active in local markets. The book supports this view with empirical evidence based on illustrative case studies, and on econometric analysis using extensive firm-level datasets on multinational activities, innovation and economic performances. Integrating an in-depth account of state of the art literature with detailed evidence, this book will be of great interest to an extensive audience. This will encompass students, researchers, academics, policy makers and practitioners across a wide range of disciplines including: international business, economics and management of innovation, international economics and industrial organisation.

This book gets to the root of how and why multinational firms differ in the cross-border creation, transfer and diffusion of technology, and provides fresh evidence on the effects that these differences have on productivity and innovation in the economic systems in which they are active. Davide Castellani and Antonello Zanfei consider multinationals as heterogeneous institutions that combine internal networks of subsidiaries with external networks of collaborative linkages, to bridge different economic and innovation systems. They examine heterogeneity in productivity and innovative behaviour between multinational and national firms, as well as across and within multinationals. The authors argue that not every foreign firm is a good source of externality, and not every domestic firm is equally well placed to benefit from multinationals. It is shown that spillovers from multinationals differ according to the technological profiles, embeddedness and linkage creation of both foreign and domestic firms active in local markets. The book supports this view with empirical evidence based on illustrative case studies, and on econometric analysis using extensive firm-level datasets on multinational activities, innovation and economic performances. Integrating an in-depth account of state of the art literature with detailed evidence, this book will be of great interest to an extensive audience. This will encompass students, researchers, academics, policy makers and practitioners across a wide range of disciplines including: international business, economics and management of innovation, international economics and industrial organisation.

Over the last three decades cross-border innovation has profoundly changed. The fragmentation of global value chains, increased global connectedness, and pervasive digitalization have helped shape innovation processes that now increasingly span national borders. This changing process has involved a wide array of actors (players) in a variety of geographical locations and organizational spaces (places), calling for new guidelines, public interventions, and regulatory frameworks (policies). Considering this complexity, the existing literature has only partially captured the ongoing changes in cross-border innovation and showed a limited engagement in integrative, cross-disciplinary debate. This book presents complementary and novel perspectives on the phenomenon from distinguished scholars, bridging perspectives from a rich set of research streams including international business, strategy, innovation studies and policy, international economics, industrial organization, economic geography, ethics, and sustainability. Three distinct sections focus on the players, the places, and the policies in contemporary cross-border innovation. Together, the contributions highlight the changing role of multinational enterprises and the growing participation of emerging actors in cross-border innovation, via formal and informal networks which are increasingly shaped around highly mobile individuals and new geographical centres. The book also emphasizes the intertwined role of policies at national and international level, stressing the importance of supply- and demand-oriented policies and presenting intellectual property right policies as a double-edged sword for cross-border innovation.