IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ehl/lserod/116878.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

When the rain comes, don’t stay at home! Regional innovation and trans-local investment in the aftermath of the Great Recession

Author

Listed:
  • Crescenzi, Riccardo
  • Ganau, Roberto

Abstract

Global connectivity and knowledge circulation are necessary for innovation to thrive. However, in response to external shocks, economies tend to reduce their external exposure in order to minimize risk and focus their resources on internal markets. Uncoordinated and often competitive responses to economic shocks are in sharp contrast with the need for innovative solutions for recovery. This paper explores this paradox by looking at regional innovation in the USA in the aftermath of the Great Recession. The paper compares Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) with similar domestic, inter-state investment in order to assess whether a ‘local innovation premium’ is associated with global connectivity vis-à-vis purely domestic linkages. The results show that what matters for post-crisis innovation is active internationalization in the form of outward FDI. Truly global outward connectivity matters the most: investing abroad offers the highest short-term returns vis-à-vis domestic inter-regional investments. FDI connectivity with highly innovative frontier systems offers the highest returns when innovation is needed to respond to the crisis. However, low-innovation regions can still profit (in the short-run) from connectivity with other relatively less technologically advanced regions, benefitting from stronger congruence in terms of technological capabilities. These results send a warning message on the potentially adverse consequences of current policies in most advanced economies that seek to manage foreign activities of domestic companies in attempts to foster domestic security and recovery.

Suggested Citation

  • Crescenzi, Riccardo & Ganau, Roberto, 2022. "When the rain comes, don’t stay at home! Regional innovation and trans-local investment in the aftermath of the Great Recession," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 116878, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
  • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:116878
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/116878/
    File Function: Open access version.
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter Kedron & Sharmistha Bagchi-Sen, 2012. "Foreign direct investment in Europe by multinational pharmaceutical companies from India," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(4), pages 809-839, July.
    2. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2012. "Trade and Regional Inequality," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 88(2), pages 109-136, April.
    3. John Van Reenen & Rupert Harrison & Rachel Griffith, 2006. "How Special Is the Special Relationship? Using the Impact of U.S. R&D Spillovers on U.K. Firms as a Test of Technology Sourcing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1859-1875, December.
    4. Michael Storper & Anthony J. Venables, 2004. "Buzz: face-to-face contact and the urban economy," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(4), pages 351-370, August.
    5. Adam B. Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg & Rebecca Henderson, 1993. "Geographic Localization of Knowledge Spillovers as Evidenced by Patent Citations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 108(3), pages 577-598.
    6. Crescenzi, Riccardo & Gagliardi, Luisa & Iammarino, Simona, 2015. "Foreign multinationals and domestic innovation: Intra-industry effects and firm heterogeneity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 596-609.
    7. Cooke, Philip & Gomez Uranga, Mikel & Etxebarria, Goio, 1997. "Regional innovation systems: Institutional and organisational dimensions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4-5), pages 475-491, December.
    8. Ron Boschma & Simona Iammarino, 2009. "Related Variety, Trade Linkages, and Regional Growth in Italy," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 85(3), pages 289-311, July.
    9. Riccardo Crescenzi & Arnaud Dyèvre & Frank Neffke, 2022. "Innovation Catalysts: How Multinationals Reshape the Global Geography of Innovation," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 98(3), pages 199-227, May.
    10. Castellani, Davide & Pieri, Fabio, 2013. "R&D offshoring and the productivity growth of European regions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(9), pages 1581-1594.
    11. Li, Jian & Strange, Roger & Ning, Lutao & Sutherland, Dylan, 2016. "Outward foreign direct investment and domestic innovation performance: Evidence from China," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 1010-1019.
    12. Jaffe, Adam B, 1989. "Real Effects of Academic Research," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(5), pages 957-970, December.
    13. Davide Castellani & Antonello Zanfei, 2003. "Technology gaps, absorptive capacity and the impact of inward investments on productivity of European firms ," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(6), pages 555-576.
    14. Fitjar, Rune Dahl & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés, 2013. "Firm collaboration and modes of innovation in Norway," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 128-138.
    15. Henry Wai-chung Yeung, 2009. "Regional Development and the Competitive Dynamics of Global Production Networks: An East Asian Perspective," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(3), pages 325-351.
    16. Rune Dahl Fitjar & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2014. "When local interaction does not suffice: sources of firm innovation in urban Norway," Chapters, in: André Torre & Frédéric Wallet (ed.), Regional Development and Proximity Relations, chapter 5, pages 195-222, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    17. Timothy Sturgeon & Johannes Van Biesebroeck & Gary Gereffi, 2008. "Value chains, networks and clusters: reframing the global automotive industry," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 8(3), pages 297-321, May.
    18. Stefano Usai, 2011. "The Geography of Inventive Activity in OECD Regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(6), pages 711-731.
    19. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Issues in Assessing the Contribution of Research and Development to Productivity Growth," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 17-45, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Javorcik, Beata Smarzynska & Spatareanu, Mariana, 2008. "To share or not to share: Does local participation matter for spillovers from foreign direct investment?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(1-2), pages 194-217, February.
    21. Jacopo Canello, 2017. "Outward foreign direct investment, offshore outsourcing and local network resilience in industrial districts," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(2), pages 181-201, February.
    22. Mosahid Khan & Hélène Dernis, 2005. "Impact of Patent Co-Operation Treaty Data on Epo Patent Statistics and Improving the Timeliness of EPO Indicators," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers 2005/2, OECD Publishing.
    23. Fosfuri, Andrea & Motta, Massimo & Ronde, Thomas, 2001. "Foreign direct investment and spillovers through workers' mobility," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 205-222, February.
    24. Neil M. Coe & Peter Dicken & Martin Hess, 2008. "Global production networks: realizing the potential," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 8(3), pages 271-295, May.
    25. Rabbiosi, Larissa & Santangelo, Grazia D., 2013. "Parent company benefits from reverse knowledge transfer: The role of the liability of newness in MNEs," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 160-170.
    26. Grossman, Gene M. & Helpman, Elhanan, 1991. "Trade, knowledge spillovers, and growth," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(2-3), pages 517-526, April.
    27. Beata Smarzynska Javorcik, 2004. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Increase the Productivity of Domestic Firms? In Search of Spillovers Through Backward Linkages," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 605-627, June.
    28. David L. Rigby & Jürgen Essletzbichler, 1997. "Evolution, Process Variety, and Regional Trajectories of Technological Change in U.S. Manufacturing," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 73(3), pages 269-284, July.
    29. Roberto Antonietti & Giulio Cainelli, 2011. "The role of spatial agglomeration in a structural model of innovation, productivity and export: a firm-level analysis," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 46(3), pages 577-600, June.
    30. Jing Xiao & Ron Boschma & Martin Andersson, 2018. "Resilience in the European Union: the effect of the 2008 crisis on the ability of regions in Europe to develop new industrial specializations," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 27(1), pages 15-47.
    31. Zoltan J. Acs & Luc Anselin & Attila Varga, 2008. "Patents and Innovation Counts as Measures of Regional Production of New Knowledge," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 11, pages 135-151, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    32. Dieter Ernst & Linsu Kim, 2002. "Global Production Networks, Information Technology and Knowledge Diffusion," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(3), pages 147-153.
    33. Ernst, Dieter & Kim, Linsu, 2002. "Global production networks, knowledge diffusion, and local capability formation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(8-9), pages 1417-1429, December.
    34. Julie A. Silva & Robin M. Leichenko, 2004. "Regional Income Inequality and International Trade," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 80(3), pages 261-286, July.
    35. Martin Hess & Henry Wai-Chung Yeung, 2006. "Whither Global Production Networks in Economic Geography? Past, Present, and Future," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 38(7), pages 1193-1204, July.
    36. Ekaterina Turkina & Ari Van Assche & Raja Kali, 2016. "Structure and evolution of global cluster networks: evidence from the aerospace industry," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(6), pages 1211-1234.
    37. Riccardo Crescenzi & Simona Iammarino, 2017. "Global investments and regional development trajectories: the missing links," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(1), pages 97-115, January.
    38. Paola Criscuolo, 2009. "Inter-firm reverse technology transfer: the home country effect of R&D internationalization," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(5), pages 869-899, October.
    39. Roberto Antonietti & Raffaello Bronzini & Giulio Cainelli, 2015. "Inward greenfield FDI and innovation," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 42(1), pages 93-116, March.
    40. Cusmano, Lucia & Morrison, Andrea & Rabellotti, Roberta, 2010. "Catching up Trajectories in the Wine Sector: A Comparative Study of Chile, Italy, and South Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 1588-1602, November.
    41. Cassiman, Bruno & Golovko, Elena & Martínez-Ros, Ester, 2010. "Innovation, exports and productivity," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 372-376, July.
    42. Davide Castellani & Fabio Pieri, 2016. "Outward Investments and Productivity: Evidence from European Regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(12), pages 1945-1964, December.
    43. Audretsch, David B & Feldman, Maryann P, 1996. "R&D Spillovers and the Geography of Innovation and Production," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 630-640, June.
    44. Riccardo Crescenzi & Andrés Rodriguez-Pose & Michael Storper, 2007. "The territorial dynamics of innovation: a Europe-United States comparative analysis," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(6), pages 673-709, November.
    45. Juan Alcácer & Wilbur Chung, 2007. "Location Strategies and Knowledge Spillovers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(5), pages 760-776, May.
    46. Goss, Ernie & Wingender Jr., John R. & Torau, Megan, 2007. "The contribution of foreign capital to U.S. productivity growth," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 383-396, July.
    47. Davide Castellani & Antonello Zanfei, 2007. "Internationalisation, Innovation and Productivity: How Do Firms Differ in Italy?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 156-176, January.
    48. Ron Boschma & Koen Frenken, 2010. "The Spatial Evolution of Innovation Networks: A Proximity Perspective," Chapters, in: Ron Boschma & Ron Martin (ed.), The Handbook of Evolutionary Economic Geography, chapter 5, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    49. Rikard H. Eriksson, 2011. "Localized Spillovers and Knowledge Flows: How Does Proximity Influence the Performance of Plants?," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 87(2), pages 127-152, April.
    50. Paola Criscuolo & Rajneesh Narula & Bart Verspagen, 2005. "Role of home and host country innovation systems in r&d internationalisation: a patent citation analysis," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(5), pages 417-433.
    51. 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.
    52. Ron Boschma, 2005. "Proximity and Innovation: A Critical Assessment," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 61-74.
    53. Rikard H. Eriksson, 2011. "Localized Spillovers and Knowledge Flows: How Does Proximity Influence the Performance of Plants?," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 87(2), pages 127-152, April.
    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. Ron Boschma, 2021. "Global Value Chains from an Evolutionary Economic Geography perspective: a research agenda," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2134, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Nov 2021.
    2. Riccardo Crescenzi & Simona Iammarino, 2017. "Global investments and regional development trajectories: the missing links," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(1), pages 97-115, January.
    3. Yuandi Wang & Lutao Ning & Jian Li & Martha Prevezer, 2016. "Foreign Direct Investment Spillovers and the Geography of Innovation in Chinese Regions: The Role of Regional Industrial Specialization and Diversity," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(5), pages 805-822, May.
    4. Riccardo Crescenzi & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2013. "R&D, Socio-Economic Conditions, and Regional Innovation in the U.S," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(2), pages 287-320, June.
    5. Ascani, Andrea & Bettarelli, Luca & Resmini, Laura & Balland, Pierre-Alexandre, 2020. "Global networks, local specialisation and regional patterns of innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(8).
    6. Crescenzi, Riccardo & Nathan, Max & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés, 2016. "Do inventors talk to strangers? On proximity and collaborative knowledge creation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 177-194.
    7. Nicola Cortinovis & Riccardo Crescenzi & Frank van Oort, 2020. "Multinational enterprises, industrial relatedness and employment in European regions [Innovation: mapping the winds of creative destruction]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(5), pages 1165-1205.
    8. Rakas, Marija & Hain, Daniel S., 2019. "The state of innovation system research: What happens beneath the surface?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    9. Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Crescenzi, Riccardo, 2012. "R&D, Socio-Economic Conditions and Regional Innovation in the United States," CEPR Discussion Papers 9265, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Marrocu, Emanuela & Paci, Raffaele & Usai, Stefano, 2013. "Proximity, networking and knowledge production in Europe: What lessons for innovation policy?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 80(8), pages 1484-1498.
    11. Qin, Xionghe & Wang, Xueli & Kwan, Mei-Po, 2023. "The contrasting effects of interregional networks and local agglomeration on R&D productivity in Chinese provinces: Insights from an empirical spatial Durbin model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    12. Hyojung Kang & Jorge Martinez‐Vazquez, 2022. "When does foreign direct investment lead to inclusive growth?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(8), pages 2394-2427, August.
    13. Hamidi, Shima & Zandiatashbar, Ahoura & Bonakdar, Ahmad, 2019. "The relationship between regional compactness and regional innovation capacity (RIC): Empirical evidence from a national study," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 394-402.
    14. Maietta, Ornella Wanda, 2015. "Determinants of university–firm R&D collaboration and its impact on innovation: A perspective from a low-tech industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(7), pages 1341-1359.
    15. Fitjar, Rune Dahl & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés, 2013. "Firm collaboration and modes of innovation in Norway," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 128-138.
    16. 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.
    17. Sam Tavassoli & Nunzia Carbonara, 2014. "The role of knowledge variety and intensity for regional innovation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 493-509, August.
    18. Mario Maggioni & Teodora Uberti & Mario Nosvelli, 2014. "Does intentional mean hierarchical? Knowledge flows and innovative performance of European regions," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 53(2), pages 453-485, September.
    19. Crescenzi, Riccardo & Gagliardi, Luisa & Iammarino, Simona, 2015. "Foreign multinationals and domestic innovation: Intra-industry effects and firm heterogeneity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 596-609.
    20. Roberta Capello & Camilla Lenzi, 2015. "The Knowledge–Innovation Nexus. Its Spatially Differentiated Returns to Innovation," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 379-399, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    innovation; foreign and domestic investment; Great Recession; regions; USA; 639633-MASSIVE-ERC- 2014-STG;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • O19 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - International Linkages to Development; Role of International Organizations
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • O51 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - U.S.; Canada
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:ehl:lserod:116878. 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: LSERO Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.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.