Subsidiary roles as determinants of subsidiary technology sourcing: empirical evidence from China

Article

Zhang, S., Zhao, S., Bournakis, I., Pearce, R. and Papanastassiou, M. 2018. Subsidiary roles as determinants of subsidiary technology sourcing: empirical evidence from China. Economia Politica. 35 (2), pp. 623-648. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40888-018-0120-8
TypeArticle
TitleSubsidiary roles as determinants of subsidiary technology sourcing: empirical evidence from China
AuthorsZhang, S., Zhao, S., Bournakis, I., Pearce, R. and Papanastassiou, M.
Abstract

Emerging economies have become new destinations for knowledge sourcing, forcing Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) to reconfigure their global innovation strategies and structure. While foreign subsidiaries located in emerging economies were conventionally viewed as having market or efficiency seeking roles, they have started to evolve towards knowledge-seeking roles. We argue that the conventional wisdom shall be reassessed considering this recent shift. We empirically investigate 129 manufacturing MNE subsidiaries of Fortune 500 companies in China, in terms of their roles and sources of technology. Our results indicate that market and knowledge seeking subsidiaries located in China tend to have a positive impact on the generation of new knowledge, either through locally established MNE R&D laboratories or through collaborations with local firms and scientific institutions.

PublisherSpringer in co-publication with il Mulino
JournalEconomia Politica
ISSN1120-2890
Publication dates
Online08 Jun 2018
Print01 Aug 2018
Publication process dates
Deposited27 Jul 2018
Accepted29 May 2018
Output statusPublished
Accepted author manuscript
Copyright Statement

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Economia Politica. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40888-018-0120-8

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1007/s40888-018-0120-8
LanguageEnglish
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