Title: R&D internationalisation and the strategic relevance of the institutional framework in host locations

Authors: Isabel Álvarez; Raquel Marín; Francisco Javier Santos Arteaga

Addresses: Departamento de Economía Aplicada II, Facultad de Económicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Campus de Somosaguas, 28223 Madrid, Spain ' Departamento de Economía y Finanzas, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Europea de Madrid, C/Tajo s/n, Urbanización El Bosque, 28260 Villaviciosa de Odón, Madrid, Spain ' School of Economics and Management, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Universitätsplatz 1 – Piazza Università, 1, Bozen-Bolzano, 39100 BZ, Italy

Abstract: The configuration of host national systems of innovation and the technological international networks established by multinational enterprises (MNE) can become key aspects for the internationalisation decision that may also concern knowledge related activities such as R&D. Through the combination of a theoretical model and empirical analysis, this paper shows to what extent institutional quality becomes a determinant factor for the attraction of foreign R&D activities, these latter being conditioned by the technological and productive capabilities of local contexts and the competitive pressures MNE face in foreign countries. Our contribution is a step further in the explanatory framework of R&D internationalisation and also provides new insights about what are the key reinforcement mechanisms for the attraction of new knowledge intensive investments.

Keywords: R&D internationalisation; research and development; institutional framework; national system of innovation; NSI; technological networks; multinational enterprises; MNEs; host locations; institutional quality; foreign R&D; knowledge intensive investments.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMDM.2016.080704

International Journal of Management and Decision Making, 2016 Vol.15 No.3/4, pp.205 - 231

Received: 17 Jul 2016
Accepted: 24 Jul 2016
Published online: 04 Dec 2016 *

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