Innovation and the Multinational Firm Perspectives on Foreign Subsidiaries and Host Locations

In the changing geography of innovation, multinational corporations play a key role as creators of knowledge. Innovation and the Multinational Firm investigates how innovation is managed within these firms by focusing particularly on subsidiaries and host-locations. Previous literature has recognized that subsidiaries are increasingly involved in strategizing activities while managing their technological assets, and that locational features powerfully influence multinational firms' distributed innovation. Yet, a comprehensive understanding of how subsidiary-level and location-level variables interact to explain decentralized processes of innovation is still missing. This book offers insights into these aspects by adopting a novel theoretical angle, inspired by the blend of three literatures, namely international business, innovation studies and economic geography. The volume is divided into two parts. The first proposes an overview of the literature on the management of innovation across geographical space. The second delves into the role of subsidiaries and host-locations to develop a multi-level analytical framework for the study of geographically distributed innovation in multinational firms.

Alessandra Perri is Assistant Professor of International Business at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy. Her research focuses on FDI spillovers to host-locations, local linkages, subsidiary innovation strategy, and emerging countries' technological catch-up. Alessandra's research appears in various journals, including The Journal of World Business, The International Business Review, and The International Journal of Management Reviews among others.

Introduction
PART I: MANAGING INNOVATION ACROSS GEOGRAPHICAL SPACE: AN OVERVIEW
1. Innovation in Multinational Firms and the Role of Geography
1.1 Innovation and the Multinational Firm
1.2 Models and Processes of Innovation in Multinational Firms
1.3 R&D Internationalization and the Role of Geography
1.3.1 Tacit Knowledge, Proximity and Co-location
1.4 Is R&D Really International?
2. Managing Innovation in Multinational Firms
2.1 Forces behind R&D Internationalization
2.2 Types of Innovation-Driven Foreign Direct Investment
2.3 Location Choices of R&D Facilities
2.4 Organizational Challenges in Multinational Innovation
2.4.1 Orchestrating Geographically Dispersed Innovation Activities
PART II: A MULTI-LEVEL APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF GEOGRAPHICALLY DISPERSED INNOVATION IN MULTINATIONAL FIRMS
3. Perspectives on Subsidiaries
3.1 The Evolution of Subsidiary-Level Research
3.2 Changing Roles: from Passive to Active Subsidiaries
3.3 Internal and External Drivers of Subsidiary Evolution
3.3.1 The Influence of the Internal Network
3.3.2 The Influence of the External Network
3.4 An Innovation Management Perspective
3.4.1 Knowledge Creation
3.4.2 Knowledge Protection
4. Perspectives on Host-Locations
4.1 Integrating International Business, Innovation and Economic Geography perspectives
4.2 The case of FDI Spillovers to Host-locations
4.3 Antecedents of FDI Knowledge Spillovers
4.4 Place and Space: Locational Features for MNC Innovation
5. Integrating Perspectives
5.1 The Relevance of Locations for MNC Innovation
5.2 The Case of FDI Spillovers to Host-locations
5.3 Antecedents of FDI Knowledge Spillovers
5.3.1 Macro-level Perspectives
5.3.2 Meso-level Perspectives
5.3.3 Micro-level Perspectives
5.4 Implications for the Study of FDI Spillovers to Host-locations
6. Concluding Remarks and New Research Directions
6.1 Concluding Observations
6.2 Potential Research Opportunities