Drivers of globalization of R&D investment by U.S. multinational enterprises: Evidence from industry-level data

Existing country-level and firm-level studies have shed light on the mechanisms driving the globalization of R&D investment by multinational enterprises. However, there is a lack of industry-level evidence on this issue, which is much needed for the robustness of the theoretical and conceptual f...

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Main Author: Zhou, Yixiao
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/16197
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author Zhou, Yixiao
author_facet Zhou, Yixiao
author_sort Zhou, Yixiao
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Existing country-level and firm-level studies have shed light on the mechanisms driving the globalization of R&D investment by multinational enterprises. However, there is a lack of industry-level evidence on this issue, which is much needed for the robustness of the theoretical and conceptual framework developed from country- and firm-level studies. Therefore, this study examines the determinants of overseas R&D investment by multinational enterprises from a single country, the United States, using an industry-level panel dataset. This study covers U.S. multinational enterprises in seven two-digit-level North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) manufacturing industries in twenty-three countries over the period 1999-2008. The empirical findings suggest that technology-seeking motive, technology-adaptation motive, and access to an abundant pool of researchers exert positive impact on the R&D intensity of U.S.-based multinational enterprises in a host country. The roles of investment position, institutional quality and distance are not found to be robust. These findings are largely consistent with the current theoretical understanding on R&D globalization by multinational enterprises. The findings point to the need for policies that strengthen domestic R&D stock, enhance human capital endowment and support a domestic market that is open to the world in order to attract overseas R&D investment by multinational enterprises.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-161972017-09-13T15:56:21Z Drivers of globalization of R&D investment by U.S. multinational enterprises: Evidence from industry-level data Zhou, Yixiao Existing country-level and firm-level studies have shed light on the mechanisms driving the globalization of R&D investment by multinational enterprises. However, there is a lack of industry-level evidence on this issue, which is much needed for the robustness of the theoretical and conceptual framework developed from country- and firm-level studies. Therefore, this study examines the determinants of overseas R&D investment by multinational enterprises from a single country, the United States, using an industry-level panel dataset. This study covers U.S. multinational enterprises in seven two-digit-level North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) manufacturing industries in twenty-three countries over the period 1999-2008. The empirical findings suggest that technology-seeking motive, technology-adaptation motive, and access to an abundant pool of researchers exert positive impact on the R&D intensity of U.S.-based multinational enterprises in a host country. The roles of investment position, institutional quality and distance are not found to be robust. These findings are largely consistent with the current theoretical understanding on R&D globalization by multinational enterprises. The findings point to the need for policies that strengthen domestic R&D stock, enhance human capital endowment and support a domestic market that is open to the world in order to attract overseas R&D investment by multinational enterprises. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/16197 10.5539/ijef.v8n2p51 restricted
spellingShingle Zhou, Yixiao
Drivers of globalization of R&D investment by U.S. multinational enterprises: Evidence from industry-level data
title Drivers of globalization of R&D investment by U.S. multinational enterprises: Evidence from industry-level data
title_full Drivers of globalization of R&D investment by U.S. multinational enterprises: Evidence from industry-level data
title_fullStr Drivers of globalization of R&D investment by U.S. multinational enterprises: Evidence from industry-level data
title_full_unstemmed Drivers of globalization of R&D investment by U.S. multinational enterprises: Evidence from industry-level data
title_short Drivers of globalization of R&D investment by U.S. multinational enterprises: Evidence from industry-level data
title_sort drivers of globalization of r&d investment by u.s. multinational enterprises: evidence from industry-level data
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/16197