The paper investigates the impact that the multinational scope of firms' activities can have on their productivity. First, we argue that such an impact is both direct and indirect, and that the latter is channelled through higher incentives to invest in R&D. Second, we posit that the composition...

Based on the empirical firm growth literature and on heterogeneous (microeconomic) adjustment models, this paper empirically investigates the impact of European industry fluctuations and domestic business cycles on the growth performance of European firms. Since the implementation of the Single...

This paper evaluates the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) recently proposed by the European Commission. We find that if the CCCTB is introduced as it is currently proposed (including loss consolidation), then it is likely to impose large tax revenue costs of about one fifth of the...

We analyse 446 location decisions of foreign affiliates in the R&D sector incorporated in the European Union over 1999-2006. Our results suggest that on average, the location probability increases with the size of demand, agglomeration economies, low production cost, R&D intensity, flexibility...

In recent years, the number of research and development (R&D) partnerships between firms has substantially increased. From the perspective of the individual firm, these partnerships are formed in order to share the risks and benefits of R&D. At the macro level, they result in a global spanning...

Leading technology intensive firms have incentives to protect knowledge outflows to collocated firms in order to enhance the returns to R&D (Alcácer and Zhao, 2012). In this paper we argue that leading firms' knowledge protection strategies are likely to discourage other firms from setting up...

The life sciences sector (and biotechnology in particular) has emerged as a prospective area, and attracted a lot of attention recently. Multinational companies in the life sciences seek to explore new markets, and, on the other side, governments strive to develop the life sciences sector...

Using an internationally linked patent database, this paper compares the types of R&D activities undertaken by multinationals in China by home country and industry. In China, multinationals recently began investing in R&D, mainly in the areas of product and manufacturing process development....

Using a sample of 59 major European food and beverage multinationals and their 8,432 subsidiaries worldwide, we study the characteristics and evolution over time of their inventions. In doing so, we analyse: i) 8,626 EPO applications filed by these companies between 1978 and 2005; ii) 3,650 US...

We contribute to the Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) literature in two ways: (i) we consider how societal aspects are taken into account in research and innovation activities in four fundamentally different futures, as opposed to analysing current practices; and (ii) put the emphasis...