IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/unc/tncjou/102.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Drivers of R&D greenfield investment projects in the communications, software and IT service industries in developing countries

Author

Listed:
  • David Schulzmann
  • Evis Sinani
  • Bersant Hobdari
  • Bent Petersen

Abstract

Globalization has led to the decentralization of research and development (R&D) activities by multinational enterprises (MNEs). Investment in these activities is affected by both the host-country environment and the investment strategies of the entrant MNEs. Using data on greenfield R&D investment projects for a sample of digital MNEs in the communications, software and IT service industries during the period 2003–2019, we investigate the importance of host-country characteristics on MNEs’ R&D investment and examine the moderating role of the host country’s innovation capabilities as well as two strategies – exploitation versus exploration – on the part of MNEs. We find that the size of investment projects is larger in developing countries than in developed ones, especially when host countries have stronger innovation capabilities and when MNEs pursue strategies of exploitation rather than exploration. Our findings contribute to the extant research in this area and furnish related policy implications for developing countries.

Suggested Citation

  • David Schulzmann & Evis Sinani & Bersant Hobdari & Bent Petersen, . "Drivers of R&D greenfield investment projects in the communications, software and IT service industries in developing countries," UNCTAD Transnational Corporations Journal, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    • Handle: RePEc:unc:tncjou:102
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/diaeia2023d1a4_en.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Barry Eichengreen & Donghyun Park & Kwanho Shin, 2012. "When Fast-Growing Economies Slow Down: International Evidence and Implications for China," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 11(1), pages 42-87, Winter/Sp.
    2. David Bulman & Maya Eden & Ha Nguyen, 2017. "Transitioning from low-income growth to high-income growth: is there a middle-income trap?," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 5-28, January.
    3. Bernhard Dachs & Georg Zahradnik, . "From few to many: main trends in the internationalization of business R&D," UNCTAD Transnational Corporations Journal, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    4. Xiaming Liu & Pamela Siler & Chengqi Wang & Yingqi Wei, 2000. "Productivity Spillovers From Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence From UK Industry Level Panel Data," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 31(3), pages 407-425, September.
    5. Haakonsson, Stine Jessen & Ujjual, Vandana, 2015. "Internationalisation of R&D: New insights into multinational enterprises’ R&D strategies in emerging markets," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 26(2), pages 101-122.
    6. Borensztein, E. & De Gregorio, J. & Lee, J-W., 1998. "How does foreign direct investment affect economic growth?1," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 115-135, June.
    7. Mehmet Demirbag & Keith W. Glaister, 2010. "Factors Determining Offshore Location Choice for R&D Projects: A Comparative Study of Developed and Emerging Regions," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(8), pages 1534-1560, December.
    8. Bas, Christian Le & Sierra, Christophe, 2002. "'Location versus home country advantages' in R&D activities: some further results on multinationals' locational strategies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 589-609, May.
    9. Marina Papanastassiou & Robert Pearce & Antonello Zanfei, 2020. "Changing perspectives on the internationalization of R&D and innovation by multinational enterprises: A review of the literature," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(4), pages 623-664, June.
    10. Ron Hira, 2020. "Outsourcing: A Case of Shared Mental Models in Conflict," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(3), pages 410-435, August.
    11. Patel, Pari, 1995. "Localised Production of Technology for Global Markets," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(1), pages 141-153, February.
    12. Bruce Kogut & Udo Zander, 1993. "Knowledge of the Firm and the Evolutionary Theory of the Multinational Corporation," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 24(4), pages 625-645, December.
    13. Cohen, Wesley M & Klepper, Steven, 1996. "A Reprise of Size and R&D," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(437), pages 925-951, July.
    14. Athukorala, Prema-chandra & Kohpaiboon, Archanun, 2010. "Globalization of R&D by US-based multinational enterprises," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1335-1347, December.
    15. Schneider, Friedrich & Frey, Bruno S., 1985. "Economic and political determinants of foreign direct investment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 161-175, February.
    16. Eliane Choquette & Stine Jessen Haakonsson & Peter D. Ørberg Jensen & Søren Feodor Nielsen, . "Globalization of innovation: the moderating role of project-level investment strategy and country type in location choice for R&D-related FDI," UNCTAD Transnational Corporations Journal, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    17. John Dunning, 1981. "Explaining the international direct investment position of countries: Towards a dynamic or developmental approach," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 117(1), pages 30-64, March.
    18. Davide Castellani & Katiuscia Lavoratori, 2020. "The lab and the plant: Offshore R&D and co-location with production activities," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(1), pages 121-137, February.
    19. Kang, Yuanfei & Scott-Kennel, Joanna & Battisti, Martina & Deakins, David, 2021. "Linking inward/outward FDI and exploitation/exploration strategies: Development of a framework for SMEs," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(3).
    20. Alberto Di Minin & Mattia Bianchi, 2011. "Safe nests in global nets: Internationalization and appropriability of R&D in wireless telecom," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 42(7), pages 910-934, September.
    21. Ambos, Bjorn, 2005. "Foreign direct investment in industrial research and development: A study of German MNCs," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 395-410, May.
    22. von Zedtwitz, Maximilian & Gassmann, Oliver, 2002. "Market versus technology drive in R&D internationalization: four different patterns of managing research and development," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 569-588, May.
    23. Haakonsson, Stine Jessen & Ujjual, Vandana, 2015. "Internationalisation of R&D: New insights into multinational enterprises’ R&D strategies in emerging markets," management revue. Socio-economic Studies, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 26(2), pages 101-122.
    24. Shige Makino & Chung-Ming Lau & Rhy-Song Yeh, 2002. "Asset-Exploitation Versus Asset-Seeking: Implications for Location Choice of Foreign Direct Investment from Newly Industrialized Economies," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 33(3), pages 403-421, September.
    25. Senyo, PK & Osabutey, Ellis L.C., 2020. "Unearthing antecedents to financial inclusion through FinTech innovations," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    26. Klaus E Meyer & Evis Sinani, 2009. "When and where does foreign direct investment generate positive spillovers? A meta-analysis," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 40(7), pages 1075-1094, September.
    27. Patel, Pari & Vega, Modesto, 1999. "Patterns of internationalisation of corporate technology: location vs. home country advantages1," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(2-3), pages 145-155, March.
    28. Ziyi Wei & Quyen T. K. Nguyen, 2020. "Chinese Service Multinationals: The Degree of Internationalization and Performance," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 60(6), pages 869-908, December.
    29. Wilbur Chung & Stephen Yeaple, 2008. "International knowledge sourcing: evidence from U.S. firms expanding abroad," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(11), pages 1207-1224, November.
    30. Peter J Buckley & Jeremy Clegg & Chengqi Wang, 2007. "Is the relationship between inward FDI and spillover effects linear? An empirical examination of the case of China," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(3), pages 447-459, May.
    31. Snehal Awate & Marcus M Larsen & Ram Mudambi, 2015. "Accessing vs sourcing knowledge: A comparative study of R&D internationalization between emerging and advanced economy firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 46(1), pages 63-86, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marina Papanastassiou & Robert Pearce & Antonello Zanfei, 2020. "Changing perspectives on the internationalization of R&D and innovation by multinational enterprises: A review of the literature," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(4), pages 623-664, June.
    2. Lorena D’Agostino, 2015. "The neglected effects of R&D captive offshoring in emerging countries on the creation of knowledge at home," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 42(1), pages 61-91, March.
    3. Cozza, Claudio & Franco, Chiara & Perani, Giulio, 2018. "R&D endowments at home driving R&D internationalisation: Evidence from the Italian business R&D survey," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 277-289.
    4. Neil Foster-McGregor, 2012. "Innovation and Technology Transfer across Countries," wiiw Research Reports 380, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    5. Heike Belitz & Anna Lejpras, 2021. "R&D Internationalization Strategies of the World’s Top Corporate R&D Investors," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1942, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    6. Andrea Coveri & Antonello Zanfei, 2023. "Who wins the race for knowledge-based competitiveness? Comparing European and North American FDI patterns," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 292-330, February.
    7. Jérôme Danguy, 2017. "Globalization of innovation production: A patent-based industry analysis," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 44(1), pages 75-94.
    8. Nasirov, Shukhrat & Gokh, Irina & Filippaios, Fragkiskos, 2022. "Technological radicalness, R&D internationalization, and the moderating effect of intellectual property protection," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 215-227.
    9. Niccolò Pisani & Joan Enric Ricart, 2018. "Offshoring Innovation to Emerging Countries: The Effects of IP Protection and Cultural Differences on Firms’ Decision to Augment Versus Exploit Home-Base-Knowledge," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 58(6), pages 871-909, December.
    10. Shasha Zhao & Marina Papanastassiou & Robert D. Pearce & Chie Iguchi, 2021. "MNE R&D internationalization in developing Asia," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 789-813, September.
    11. Eliane Choquette & Stine Jessen Haakonsson & Peter D. Ørberg Jensen & Søren Feodor Nielsen, . "Globalization of innovation: the moderating role of project-level investment strategy and country type in location choice for R&D-related FDI," UNCTAD Transnational Corporations Journal, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    12. Martinez-Noya, Andrea & Garcia-Canal, Esteban & Guillen, Mauro F., 2012. "International R&D service outsourcing by technology-intensive firms: Whether and where?," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 18-37.
    13. Daniel Sommer & Bernd Ebersberger, 2021. "International R&D teams: Performance effects and the moderating role of technological competences," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 41(2), pages 387-397.
    14. Anja Schmiele, 2012. "Drivers for international innovation activities in developed and emerging countries," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 98-123, February.
    15. Shasha Zhao & Hui Tan & Marina Papanastassiou & Anne-Wil Harzing, 2020. "The internationalization of innovation towards the South: A historical case study of a global pharmaceutical corporation in China (1993–2017)," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 37(2), pages 553-585, June.
    16. Lehrer, Mark & Asakawa, Kazuhiro & Behnam, Michael, 2011. "Home base-compensating R&D: Indicators, public policy, and ramifications for multinational firms," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 42-53, March.
    17. Patricia Laurens & Christian Le Bas & Antoine Schoen, 2019. "Worldwide IP coverage of patented inventions in large pharma firms: to what extent do the internationalisation of R&D and firm strategy matter?," Post-Print hal-01725229, HAL.
    18. René Belderbos & Bart Leten & Shinya Suzuki, 2017. "Scientific research, firm heterogeneity, and foreign R&D locations of multinational firms," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 691-711, September.
    19. Cátia Pinheiro & Paula Sarmento, 2013. "R&D offshore insourcing in Portugal: drivers and motivations," FEP Working Papers 501, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    20. Heike Belitz, 2014. "Motive der Internationalisierung von Forschung und Entwicklung," DIW Roundup: Politik im Fokus 29, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:unc:tncjou:102. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Kumi Endo (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/unctach.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.