How does R&D internationalization in multinational firms affect their innovative performance? The moderating role of international collaboration in the energy industry

Nuria E. Hurtado-Torres, J. Alberto Aragón-Correa and Natalia Ortiz-de-Mandojana

International Business Review, 2018, vol. 27, issue 3, 514-527

Abstract: This paper examines the effects of the degree and geographic diversification of a firm’s R&D internationalization on its innovative performance. We use an unbalanced panel dataset of 401 observations from 110 multinational firms operating in the energy industry over a period of six years to support the argument that both the degree and the geographic diversification of a firm’s R&D internationalization have an inverted U-shaped relationship with a firm’s innovative performance. Our results also show that collaboration among R&D units located in different countries moderates this relationship by reducing both the positive effects and the challenges of the degree of R&D internationalization. This paper extends the emerging innovation focus in the headquarters–subsidiary literature by contributing to our understanding of the implications of the international R&D activities of firms and supports the utilization of social exchange theory in order to identify the moderating influence of the collaboration among a firm’s R&D units located in different countries.

Keywords: R&D internationalization; Innovative performance; International collaboration of R&D; MNEs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (24)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:iburev:v:27:y:2018:i:3:p:514-527

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DOI: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2017.10.003

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