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.