Abstract

COZZA, Claudio  and  ZANFEI, Antonello. MULTINATIONAL FIRMS AND THE CREATION OF TECHNOLOGICAL LINKAGES IN ITALY. Cuad. Econ. [online]. 2018, vol.37, n.74, pp.429-442. ISSN 0121-4772.  https://doi.org/10.15446/cuad.econ.v37n74.58077.

Using empirical evidence from the Italian R&D survey, we assess the ability of multinational firms in setting-up technological linkages (Extra-muros R&D and R&D cooperation). We have found that Italian multinationals are more prone to perform Extra-muros R&D, while foreign multinationals are better at developing R&D cooperation. However, when selecting only the linkages with local counter-parts, we find that foreign multinationals have no advantage vis-à-vis Italian firms; while multinationals still have some advantages in setting-up R&D cooperation with local universities. Results suggest that foreign multinationals can generally exploit “economies of common governance” when setting-up technical linkages, but they face relative disadvantages in terms of embeddedness in local systems.

JEL: F10, F23, O33.

Keywords : Multinational firms; R&D; technological linkages; universities..

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