More jobs for our foes? Global R&D strategy in the age of techno-nationalism

Hyungseok David Yoon, Evis Sinani, Marina Papanastassiou and Ioannis G. Economou

Research Policy, 2025, vol. 54, issue 4

Abstract: In light of rising techno-nationalism, MNEs (multinational enterprises) face heightened scrutiny over the legitimacy of their cross-border R&D investments, especially in host countries with strained diplomatic relations with the MNEs' home countries. Drawing from a realism-based international relations perspective and legitimacy theory, our study explores the effect of diplomatic relations between home and host countries on MNEs' global R&D strategy. We find that, in the face of adversarial diplomatic relations, MNEs increase their commitment to R&D-related jobs as a strategy to gain legitimacy. This finding extends the R&D internationalization literature by informing how MNEs navigate their efforts for legitimacy of their global R&D investments in an era marked by techno-nationalism.

Keywords: International relations; Job creation; R&D internationalization; Techno-nationalism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:respol:v:54:y:2025:i:4:s0048733325000253

DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2025.105196

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