The innovation performance of MNE subsidiaries and local embeddednessevidence from an emerging economy

Resumo

We examine the innovation performance of MNE subsidiaries and their embeddedness in sources of local knowledge in a policy framework within the context of an emerging economy. Based on first-hand evidence from multiple case studies, we found that: (1) there was variability between the subsidiaries in terms of the cumulative manner and speed at which they improved their innovation performance over time, using progressively levels of accumulated capability as a proxy; (2) these differences in innovation performance improvement reflected heterogeneity between the subsidiaries in terms of the learning efforts made to acquire knowledge from local organizations; (3) the varied frequency in which the subsidiaries developed such local relationships reflects their differing responses to a common industrial policy that makes use of tax incentives to stimulate such links. The paper reveals the limitations of this conventional type of industrial policy in stimulating industrial development and the embeddedness of MNEs. It also suggests that a new direction for policy, which incorporates public-private negotiations and a focus on the firm-centred building of innovation capabilities, should be pursued in order to accelerate the innovation performance progress of latecomer firms.

Ficha do documento

Tipo

Artigo científico

Ano

2011

Instituição

Springer

Fonte

Repositório da FGV

Idioma

Inglês

Acesso

Acesso restrito

DOI

10.1007/s00191-010-0180-6

Identificador

oai:repositorio.fgv.br:10438/23197

Temas

EconomiaTecnologia

Palavras-chave

MNE-subsidiariesInnovation performanceCapability accumulationLocal embeddednessLearning linksEconomiaEmpresas subsidiáriasTecnologia