The Role of Multinational Corporations and National States in the Globalization of Innovatory Capacity: The European Perspective

The recent ability of multinational corporations (MNCs) to develop integrated technological networks, increasingly motivated within Europe by the further progress of economic integration, is argued to affect and be affected by national technological competitiveness. This paper examines the precise geographical dispersion of technological activity in Europe by the largest MNCs, and the potential impact of those MNCs on the level and structure of the technological capacity of European home and host countries, using data on patents granted to the world largest firms in the US. Since the late 1980s, the majority of the technological activity conducted in foreign-owned research facilities located in Europe, has taken place in affiliates of European-owned companies. This paper examines whether the much higher degree of internationalization of corporate technology in European MNCs than in their US or Japanese counterparts is attributable to cross-border activity within Europe, or extends to European-owned research facilities in the US and Japan. While intra-European activity matters more for Dutch, Belgian and Swedish MNCs (and in the electrical equipment and computing industries), whose strategies are substantially based on corporate European integration, investments in the US are of greater significance for French and Swiss companies, and of the greatest importance for German and British firms (and in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries), representing a more widely ‘globalized’ technological strategy.     

The new geography of corporate research in Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

In the new ICT-based paradigm MNCs have increasingly locationally dispersed competence-creating activities. Using patent data granted in the US to the largest European-owned electronic corporations and all the largest companies in other industries for their ICT research in the European regions, this paper investigates the regional dispersion of such research. We find that co-specialised electronic companies do not tend to develop related R&D in the same regional location, but non-electronic firms undertake related ICT development in a common centre of excellence. Thus, intra-industry competition encourages the geographical separation of co-specialised research, while inter-industry cooperation entails the co-location of related research.     

The Localisation Of Corporate Technological Trajectories In The Interwar Cartels: Cooperative Learning Versus An Exchange Of Knowledge

By itself, an exchange of knowledge between complementary activities is inadequate to bring the localised technological specialisation of firms closer together, but cooperative 1earning tends to like the technological profile of partner companies more closely cornplementary Interwar cartels in the electrical equipment industry were restricted to an exchange of knowledge at the corporate group level, but in chemicals they sometimes included cooperative Learning. US patent data for the interwar period arc used to construct a measure of the pattern of the localised technological trajectories of the largest US and European firms. Cartels had a limited impact on the overall level of research or the propensity to patent ar the corporate group level. hut cooperative learning made the technological trajectories of chemical firms more similar or closely complementry. Instend. electrical equipment firms became more localised in their learning, paths, by separating products while exchanging knowledge between activities that remained complementary. The findings are relevant to the study of current technological cooperation through inter-firm alliances.     

Capitalism, profits and innovation in the new techno-economic paradigm

Innovative profits (of the kind conceptualized by Schumpeter) are today being increasingly created through international corporate networks for technological development. Such profits through innovation are encouraged by newer more flexible organizational forms, and further encouraged (unlike in the conventional perspective on profits and on the incentive to innovate) by knowledge flows between firms. Our empirical evidence, based on US patent data, shows that multinational companies are currently more likely to develop abroad technologies which are less science-based, and less dependent upon tacit knowledge. However, within the science-based industries firms may generate abroad some technologies which are heavily dependent on tacit knowledge, but normally in fields that lie outside their own core technological competencies. We find some evidence of a convergence in corporate technological diversification across large firms, facilitated by the now common spread in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) as an integrator of formerly separate technological systems. This has led smaller firms to diversify, but giant firms to consolidate activity around those technologies that have become most interrelated.     

THE REVOLUTION WITHIN: ICT AND THE SHIFTING KNOWLEDGE BASE OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST COMPANIES

This empirical article analyses the importance of information and communications technologies (ICT) in the technological diversification trend among the world's largest manufacturing firms during the 1980s and 1990s. The objective of the research is twofold: first, to emphasise the emerging differences among technologies when companies from different industries patent outside their traditional technological capabilities; secondly, to investigate whether the tendency among large companies from all industries to patent in ICT is distinctive when compared with the tendency to patent in other technologies. We find that technological diversification in large companies has clearly occurred in ICTs. Non-ICT specialist industries increasingly develop, rather than just utilise, the cluster of ICT-related technologies. We conclude that the development of corporate capabilities in the key technologies of the emerging ICT paradigm is more widespread than previously emphasised in the literature. One implication of this observation is that technological diversification and the information revolution may be related phenomena.     

Localized Technological Search And Multi-Technology Companies

Two major themes that have emerged from recent theoretical and empirical studies of technology at the firm level have been the tendencies on the one hand to localization of technological search and on the other hand to the spread of multi-technology companies, required to incorporate an ever-growing extent of advanced technologies. These trends appear contradictory. This paper analyses the contradictions through the use of patents data as an indicator of technological specialization. Two industries and some of their leading corporations are singled out for analysis - the electronics industry (especially in Europe). as an upstream ‘high-tech’ industry. and the food-processing industry, a downstream sector that is now having to make use of a burgeoning range of technologies. The paper examines their major corporate changes in the light of the technological data, through the use of concentration indices. It shows that both industries are trying to reconcile the contradiction with greater specialization taking place in sub-units of the firms. though the effect is more muted in food-processing where demand factors predominate. The need to command multiple diverse technologies is being targeted by restructuring firms in terms of both external relationships and internal reorganizations, but the basic contradiction still remains and may bc insoluble.     

The globalisation of research in the pharmaceutical industry: A case of uneven development

The paper discusses different conceptualisations of the term globalisation of research. From this discussion five dimensions of globalisation of research are identified. Using three different type of data, the paper goes on to examine the extent, motivations and mechanism for the globalisation of research along these five dimensions among leading European and US pharmaceutical multinational companies (MNCs). The evidence for the period 1975–1998 shows that the general process of international expansion of research activities varied significantly between leading US and European MNCs. It is also clear that the development of the process of globalisation has proceeded unevenly along the five dimensions studied. The data also show the increasing concentration of both US and European research investment in the USA.     

The globalisation of research in the pharmaceutical industry: A case of uneven development

The paper discusses different conceptualisations of the term globalisation of research. From this discussion five dimensions of globalisation of research are identified. Using three different type of data, the paper goes on to examine the extent, motivations and mechanism for the globalisation of research along these five dimensions among leading European and US pharmaceutical multinational companies (MNCs). The evidence for the period 1975-1998 shows that the general process of international expansion of research activities varied significantly between leading US and European MNCs. It is also clear that the development of the process of globalisation has proceeded unevenly along the five dimensions studied. The data also show the increasing concentration of both US and European research investment in the USA.     

The boundaries of firms in the new economy: M&As as a strategic tool toward corporate technological diversification

Following the dynamic capabilities approach, we understand the recent wave of M&As as a corporate strategy mainly stimulated by the increasingly complex and uncertain techno-socio-economic environment in which firms operate. In this new situation, the boundaries of firms are in greater flux since firms are unable to develop individually all the competencies required to keep pace with the continual redefinition of business lines being driven by corporate competition. Using US patents granted to the world's largest firms, this paper analyses the dynamics of the sectoral specialisation of corporate technological profiles following large shocks that require some M&A deal. The findings of the analysis enable us to evaluate the adoption of M&As as a strategic tool to reshape corporate technological boundaries. On these grounds, we are able to identify patterns of technological diversification into strategic fields according to different models of industrial technological development.     

Content analysis of open innovation communities using latent semantic indexing

The internationalisation of corporate research is an issue with a large impact on strategic decision-making within the research-intensive pharmaceutical industry. However, sector-wide comparative statistics on the whereabouts of corporate research activities and the geographic distribution of their research partners is scarce. This paper describes the international research profiles of Europe's top 10 largest multinational pharmaceutical companies based on publication counts and author address information drawn from the thousands of pharmaceutical research articles published in 2005–2006. The results provide relevant aggregate-level background intelligence for strategic analysis of the industry's internationalisation processes and research cooperation patterns. The overall statistics indicate that international research activity of European industry is significantly more oriented towards the US science base than vice versa. Company-level statistical data on the research cooperation involving each company's central research centres based in country of corporate headquarters, reveal quite distinctive geographical characteristics alongside differential preferences for in-house or external research partners.     

The knowledge bases of the world’s largest pharmaceutical groups: what do patent citations to non-patent literature reveal?

This article examines the knowledge bases of the world’s largest pharmaceutical groups by sales. It builds upon the concepts of knowledge specialisation and knowledge integration as the relevant dimensions along which knowledge bases can be mapped. The former is studied developing indicators of breadth. Breadth is measured by analysing the evolution of specialisation by scientific field over time. It hints at the widening range of bodies of scientific and technological knowledge relevant to firms’ innovative activities. Knowledge integration is studied developing indicators of depth. Depth is measured by analysing the evolution of integration across different typologies of research. It hints at the complex, non-linear interdependencies that link the scientific and technological domains. We develop the analysis on the strength of an original database of 33,127 European Patent Office patents and 41,931 citations to ‘non-patent document’ (of which 19,494 were identified as scientific articles included in the ISI databases) of the 30 largest pharmaceuticals groups during the period 1990–1997. The groups studied seem to have incrementally increased the breadth of their knowledge bases, moving towards the fields proper to the new biopharmaceutical research trajectory. At the same time, some of the groups studied exhibit remarkable depth in knowledge integration in particular fields such as biotechnology, biochemical research and neurosciences.     

技术融合对现代制造企业创新绩效的影响：知识基的中介效用

新兴产业普遍呈现出技术融合的趋势,融合创新已经成为把握产业未来发展先机的重要方式,提升响应技术融合的能力是现代制造业企业持续创新亟需考虑的问题。基于技术融合的专利网络特征归结出实践中的三类技术融合形式,应用负二项回归模型对我国汽车制造业上市公司财报和专利数据进行实证分析,探索技术融合对企业创新绩效的影响。研究发现,制造企业实施中介、接近、聚类三类技术融合均有助于提升创新绩效。同时,影响过程伴随着企业知识基的显著中介效用。特别是,中介效用中知识基的宽度对聚类技术融合的影响和知识基的深度对接近技术融合的影响更为强烈。为优化技术融合策略和提升创新绩效提供了企业管理层面的有益参考。     

Firms in New Technologies: The Case of Superconductivity

This article deals with three main questions. First, what types of firms are engaged in the development and exploitation of a young and perhaps future key technology? Second, on which subfields of that particular technology do certain types of firms concentrate? Third, are there any differences in industry structure and firm activity with respect to national technology policies? These aspects are discussed in terms of a case study on superconductivity. The article is empirical in character. The main pillar of the analysis rests on European patent applications, which we use for comparisons among the United States, Japan, and Germany at the corporate and national levels. To discover differences in national technology policies and their impact on corporate activity, we screened available information on sources, volumes, and aims of national programs concerning superconductivity. The period covered ranges from 1981 to 1992 and thus includes the “paradigm” shift to high-temperature superconductivity around 1987. We find that large multinational firms account for the largest part of all external patent applications in this area. Another outcome of the analysis clearly points to rising shares of patenting by small firms after the technological breakthrough in 1987. But most of these small firms have confined their activities to the national environment so far. One possible explanation may be found in differences in national technology programs supporting the start-up new firms in niche markets. Most of these small new firms are located in the United States, where public programs have created favorable conditions and an increasing domestic demand for them. Thus, although the development of new technologies is increasingly international in scope, current industry patterns and firms’ traditional specialization in related fields of activity still determine the building up of new science- and technology-based industries. At least in the United States, however, the impact of national technology policy may be felt widely in creating new and shaping existing structures in favor of more competition and faster diffusion.     

股权结构、企业绩效与投资者利益保护

公司治理的核心是对投资者利益的保护 ,公司治理、股权结构与企业绩效之间存在非常密切的内在联系。本文对深交所 1 996— 1 999年除金融性行业以外的上市公司股权结构与企业绩效之间的关系所进行的经验研究表明 ,在公司治理对外部投资人利益缺乏保护的情况下 ,流通股比例与企业业绩之间负相关 ;在非保护性行业第一大股东持股比例与企业业绩正相关 ;国有股比例、① 法人股比例与企业业绩之间的相关关系不显著。本文的研究结果表明 ,国有股减持和民营化必须建立在保护投资者利益的基础上 ,否则将不利于公司治理的优化和企业绩效的提高。     

技术多元化、行业集中度与企业绩效波动

技术多元化是企业提高核心竞争力的重要手段,在不同行业背景下,技术多元化战略对于企业绩效的稳定作用存在一定的差异.运用2009—2018年710家创业板公司IPC发明专利信息数据,采用固定面板模型,基于行业特征与行业集中度视角研究了技术多元化对于企业绩效波动的影响.研究发现:技术多元化对于企业绩效波动有明显平滑效果;在高科技行业中,技术多元化对企业绩效波动的平滑效应相对较强;行业集中度低的情况下,技术多元化对企业绩效波动的平滑效应相对较强,而在高行业集中度的情况下,平滑效应近乎无效.为企业的技术知识基础建设提供重要依据,同时为不同行业背景下的多元化产业技术生态建设提供科学的理论指导.     

Firms as the source of innovation and growth: the evolution of technological competence

It is argued that the firm is the principal source of innovation and growth, a device for the establishment of technological competence, and for its continued development over time. Markets, products and background knowledge may change quite dramatically over time. Yet as a result of the cumulative nature of learning in the production processes of firms, the profile of corporate technological competence will tend to persist over quite long periods, provided there is institutional continuity. Within the same firm, competence may evolve into related areas, but the firm's technological origins will remain identifiable in its subsequent trajectories. However, if the institution itself changes more dramatically, this technological persistence may be disrupted. Supporting evidence is provided from data on the patenting of 30 large US and European companies, which have been continuously active since the interwar period. The science and the knowledge base, and the composition of products and markets may shift quite radically, but the firm's productive and technological system itself is potentially more stable. The firm provides a vehicle for potential institutional continuity and a device for managing transitions within the economic system.     

Organizational Learning in Cooperative Alliances: Some Case Studies in Biotechnology

Dedicated biotechnology firms (DBFs) have played an important role in commercializing biotechnology. They emerged first in the US and, after a 5-year time lag, they also appeared in Europe. Faced with long and costly product lead times, DBFs raised money by entering into research contracts, mainly with large chemical and pharmaceutical companies. These coopertive research alliances have not vanished as biotechnology has matured and are more in evidence today than they were in the early dasy of the commercialization of biotechnology. This paper investigates how and why large and small companies enter research collaborations, what they learn from working together, and the effects on European competitiveness.     

技术创新对股权结构与企业绩效的中介效应

基于2013-2017年我国277家创业板上市制造业企业数据,采用中介效应检验方法分析股权结构、技术创新与企业绩效三者间的相互关系。结果表明：①第一大股东持股比例与技术创新、企业绩效间均呈显著正相关关系;②股权集中度与技术创新、企业绩效间均呈显著正相关关系;③在股权适度集中的基础上,股权制衡度与技术创新和企业绩效均呈显著正相关关系;④技术创新部分中介了股权结构对企业绩效的影响。研究结果有助于厘清股权结构、技术创新与企业绩效三者间的相互关系,对于我国企业自主创新能力提升及企业绩效可持续增长具有重要意义。     

企业战略激进度、管理者变更与技术距离

把握战略激进度是企业绩效提升的关键，以往研究未关注战略激进度对企业技术距离的影响。以中国A股制造业上市公司数据为样本，使用系统GMM检验企业战略激进度与技术距离间的关系，以及管理者变更的调节作用。结果发现：企业战略激进度与技术距离之间存在U型关系，即分析型战略有助于技术距离缩小，但进攻型和防御型战略不利于缩小技术距离。在管理者变更频率较高的企业中，战略激进度与技术距离间的U型关系更显著。进一步研究表明，战略激进度与技术距离间的U型关系在竞争程度相对较低的行业中表现更显著。相比于职业经理人，由控股股东继任董事长或总经理，以及在较少继任者两职兼任的情景下，管理者变更的调节作用更显著。     

Impact of Knowledge Capital on the Production of Hungarian Firms

Several studies identified a positive relationship between a firm’s knowledge assets and its productivity. Knowledge assets are usually considered as the level of human and technological capital of the firm. Knowledge assets of the firm may also increase by the so-called spillover effect, especially in less developed host economies of foreign direct investment, which means diffusion of the technology, knowledge and managerial skills from foreign companies to local ones. Beyond the impact of the human and technological capital of firms, this paper also examines the effect of spillover of knowledge on the firms’ performance in Hungary within a linear regression model. The model is based on individual data of Hungarian enterprises, examining the change in performance as the difference of the variables between 1996 and 2014. The paper shows that knowledge assets (concerning human capital) basically determine the firms’ production in Hungary from 2000. The effect of research and development activity was not significant in the investigated period. Foreign shares in the industries’ total equity (proxy for spillover effect) have a weak and, after 2005, a negative influence on performance. The spillover effect in the Hungarian economy was not demonstrated by the regression model.