Government strategies to attract R&D-intensive FDI

Competition among countries to attract the research and development (R&D) activities of multinational enterprises has increased substantially during the last years, but the strategies used by governments in this competition still remain largely unexplored. This paper addresses that gap by proposing a taxonomy of the policy instruments available to stimulate inward R&D-intensive foreign direct investment (FDI) and presenting the results of a comparative case study of two EU countries: Spain and Ireland. The main conclusion is that an efficient promotion of R&D-intensive FDI calls for a closer connection between innovation policy and inward investment promotion, which are two policy areas that have traditionally operated rather separately. In addition, investment promotion agencies targeting R&D-intensive FDI are advised to reconfigure the scope of services they provide by placing more emphasis on after-care, since R&D-intensive FDI tends to be evolutionary rather than purely greenfield.

Location choices within global innovation networks: the case of Europe

Rapid growth in internationalization of corporate R&D has spurred considerable interest since the 1990s. Foreign R&D is still mainly driven by the expansion of international production, but technology sourcing has become an increasingly important driver of dispersion. Actually, differences across sectors and companies tend to obscure the mix of motivations behind the development of global innovation networks. This paper distinguishes the various drivers of the international dispersion of corporate R&D in order to elaborate a typology of foreign R&D units, including in emerging countries. This typology is used to discuss the emergence of differentiated global innovation networks and the location choices by type of R&D unit. It is applied to foreign R&D projects in Europe in high and low cost countries between 2002 and 2005. It is then used to discuss the weakening attractiveness of the European Union for R&D activities and the relevant policies that countries can design to attract different types of units.

Tax incentives for innovation: time to restructure the R&;E tax credit

The R&E tax credit has never been effective and subsequent attempts to restructure it have not addressed the major deficiencies. Moreover, in the 25 years since the R&E tax credit was enacted, a steadily increasing number of countries have implemented or expanded competing tax incentives, which in many cases are better structured and larger in size. As a result, the relative impact of the US credit is now negative in terms of incentives to conduct R&D within the domestic economy. The inadequacy of the credit stems largely from its small size and its incremental format. The impact of an R&D tax incentive is affected by its scope of coverage, the ability of industry to take advantage of it over the entire R&D cycle, the magnitude of the incentive relative to other nations’ tax policies, and its ease of implementation. In the end, a tax incentive must sufficiently lower the user’s cost of R&D to overcome barriers to allocation of private-sector resources commensurate with the potential rates of return on such investments. As a policy instrument, a tax incentive for R&D should be most effective if its form is a flat rate applied to all R&D.

“We really don’t want to move,but...”: identity and strategy in the internationalisation of industrial R&;D

In Norway, as in many other high-cost OECD countries in a geographical and cultural periphery, policy-makers seem to have given up attempts at attracting large numbers of foreign R&D investments. Instead, a major focus of innovation policies is to help companies internationalise yet with an aim to maintain or even increase their level of R&D and other innovation activities nationally. Based on case studies of eight Norwegian companies and their motives for and experiences with internationalisation of R&D, this article questions this policy. From the perspective of the companies, many factors explain how, why and where they carry out their R&D activities.      

Expanding the R&;E tax credit to drive innovation,competitiveness and prosperity

The research and experimentation (R&E) tax credit has long been the subject of criticism. Some argue that if the goal is more research and innovation, it’s better to increase direct federal funding of research. Others argue that the credit is not effective, that companies would do the research in any case. Some object the very notion of using tax policy to influence private sector behavior, preferring instead a more “neutral” tax code. Still others, including Tassey in this volume, point to what they see are a host of design flaws in the current credit, including that its incremental nature reduces its effectiveness. I will argue here that most of these arguments are mistaken. To promote innovation in a global economy both direct funding and indirect tax incentives are needed. The credit, while it can be improved, has been shown to be effective in stimulating research. Moreover, far from distorting the market, the credit corrects for a market failure where firms are unable to capture all of the benefits of corporate research, leading them to under invest in research. Finally, while reform and expansion are needed, it would be a mistake to shift to a completely flat credit. However, several important changes should be made including doubling the current value of the credit, modifying the Alternative Simplified Credit to become incremental, and expanding the flat credit for collaborative R&D.

The profitability life-cycle of direct investment: an international panel study

In this paper we test competing hypotheses about the shape of the time-profile of foreign direct investment profitability on a panel of countries. Using partial linearization method we derive the time-profile of the cumulative profitability for the stock of direct investment from aggregate macroeconomic data. By testing the non-linearity hypothesis of the cumulative profitability life-cycle of direct investment we find a cubic curve.

Creative internationalization: widening the perspectives on analysis and policy regarding international R&D activities

Internationalization in R&D is further growing; it is changing its geographical balance, as it is shifting somewhat to the Far East, and its nature, increasing the global quest for talent and good research conditions as well as for low cost R&D. This paper focuses on the European perspective, i.e. it discusses current challenges Europe faces vis-à-vis trends in industrial R&D, but the findings and arguments are more general ones. It argues that our perspective on internationalization is still shaped too much by a zero sum-rationale, whereby one location wins R&D capacity that another location loses. It develops a cost–benefit matrix in order to capture the overall costs and benefits of international R&D activities more broadly. The paper argues that more creativity is needed, that our perspective needs to be broadened to tackle all variables conditioning international activities in R&D (including local conditions of demand and discourse) and to stress the importance of the absorption of global knowledge by as many actors within an innovation system as possible. On the basis of recent survey data the paper furthermore concludes that public research should be thought of as a trans-national transmission belt of knowledge and as the prime factor that shapes the attractiveness and effectiveness of a location for business R&D. Finally, it is argued that policy schemes geared towards international R&D need to accept and tackle the issue of co-ordination of governance and to take advantage of the flexible possibilities offered at the European level, beyond the logic of the European Framework Programme.

Internationalisation of R&D and embeddedness: the case of Austria

Internationalisation of corporate R&D—driven mainly by multinational enterprises (MNEs)—has received increasing interest recently. As a small open economy, Austria faces special challenges with regard to this on-going process. The share of Austrian R&D financed from abroad is outstanding in international comparison. Indeed, a significant portion of R&D activities in Austria is defined by strategic decisions of international corporations, which are re-assessing their spatial division of labour continuously. In our paper, we analyse the characteristics of these foreign-owned corporations in Austria and demonstrate that they form the more ‘modern’ part of Austrian industry. At the same time, we show that these companies and R&D facilities are embedded in the Austrian national innovation system (NIS) to a large extent. This embeddedness is also explicitly and implicitly supported by the Austrian technology policy. We conclude that this high degree of embeddedness in the NIS may be crucial for the sustainability of foreign-owned R&D facilities.

Innovation-related data in bureau of economic analysis international economic surveys

This paper describes innovation-related data available from international economic surveys conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. These data are collected in conjunction with the international transactions accounts of the United States and in surveys of the operations of multinational companies (MNCs). The paper focuses on five innovation-related series: receipts and payments of royalties and license fees; exports and imports of research, development, and testing services; sales of services by foreign affiliates classified in the research and development services industry; MNC R&D spending; and MNC R&D employment.

Organisational change and innovation system dynamics: the reform of the UK government defence research establishments

Since the end of the Cold War, ministries of defence in Europe and the United States have sought new models for the management of government defence research laboratories. The United Kingdom’s reform and subsequent privatisation of its government defence research establishments (GDREs) represents one of the most radical policy responses. This paper considers the UK case through the lens of innovation systems theory and uses defence labs reform to examine the impact of organisational change on the dynamics of an innovation system. The potential policy implications for the management of government defence research laboratories are also considered.

外国企业法律形态与我国企业立法模式

恰当的立法模式是按企业债务承担方式将其分为独资企业、合伙企业、法人企业三种状态,这种划分方式有一定的中国特色,解决了非公司形式的众多全民、集体所有制企业的种类归属问题     

Technology transfer by foreign firms and the utilization of competencies within Indian industry

This article evaluates whether the changing presence of foreign firms in India has had an impact on the performance of India’s industrial sector by impacting on the utilization of intangible capabilities within firms. Foreign firms bring in technological skills and capabilities and these are transferred by a spillover process to all of Indian industry. The results show a strong relationship between the growing presence of foreign firms in India and measures capturing the utilization of varieties of competencies in Indian industry. Thus, the notion that foreign firms’ capabilities can spillover to other sectors of industry finds support in the data.

论中国外商投资法的发展趋势——中国改革开放30年外商投资法律制度的回顾和展望

在对外开放的30年中，外商投资企业作为利用外商直接投资的主要形式，中国已经积累了丰富的经验。与此同时，中国外商投资企业法律制度也随之得以产生和发展，并在世界贸易组织规则的框架下得到了进一步的完善。在中国加入世界贸易组织、实行社会主义市场经济的今天，改革当初以企业立法形式确立的外商投资企业法已不能完全适应中国当前改革开放和世界经济一体化进程的需要。在世界贸易组织的“国民待遇”原则下，中国外商投资企业法必然地会从目前实行的“双轨制”企业立法阶段发展到国家宏观调控立法阶段的外商投资法典制阶段，从而使外商投资者和中国国内的各市场经济主体一样，在中国享有真正法律意义上的国民待遇。     

Strategic spin-off: a new incentive contract for managing R&D researchers

Innovation is a strategic challenge for high-tech companies and as such, justifies large investments in R&D. After exploring the limits of the underlying postulates of the organizational management of innovation (the necessary specialisation of researchers, the possibility of human discontinuity of innovation and possibility of controlling researchers), the objective of this paper is to show that the relationship between managers and researchers is characterised by asymmetric information (Laffont , J. J. (1985). Economie de l’incertain et de l’information, Economica.) to the benefit of the researchers. This asymmetry supposes the setting up of management practices which incite researchers to optimise the company’s interests, but this can only be done to at the expense of management control. In R&D activities, the informational asymmetry in agency relationship can be overcome by incentive managerial practices (Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W. H. (1976) Theory of the firm: managerial behavior, agency cost, and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 3(4), 305–360.). The relationship between the manager (principal) and the researcher (agent), can be resolved by setting up the practice of strategic spin-off. This practice which enables a researcher to create a company based on work that he himself has carried out within the R&D department of his “mother” company, constitutes both an economic incentive (through the status of shareholder) and a symbolic one (through the status of entrepreneur). The incentive is strong for the researcher both to reveal his information and to obtain financial value from his research. Implementing this incentive contract means putting into place certain managerial and organisational practices designed to accompany the researcher–entrepreneur: (training, incubator, venture-capital structure etc.). The practice of strategic spin-off is beginning to emerge in high tech enterprises. This is why we have chosen to make an in-depth case study of the French company most involved in strategic spin-off, namely France Telecom.

Technology Competitiveness in Emerging Markets: The Case of the Brazilian Polymer Industry

The Brazilian polymer industry (plastics, rubbers, fibers, adhesives, paints, and varnishes) is the fastest growing segment of the Petrochemical Chain. Since the polymer industry is characterized as science based, the capacity to create technology is vital for its long-range survival in the market. This paper analyzes how Brazilian polymer firms maintain their technological competitiveness, explains the main modes of technology transfer, and evaluates the degree of technological dependence of this industry. The methodology consisted of a database built with data from the Brazilian Patent Office. To confirm the findings, interviews were conducted with staff members from seven Brazilian polymer firms. The data base analysis and the interviews reveal that, in spite of the fact that Research and Development (R&D) and technological innovation have a fundamental role in their competitiveness, the firms are technologically dependent upon foreign suppliers.     

外资并购的准入管制和反垄断管制——评《关于外国投资者并购境内企业的规定》

产业准入管制和反垄断管制是我国应对外资并购的基本管制方法.反垄断管制应当服从准入管制.反垄断管制和产业政策管制的重点要随着环境的变化而变化,最终要服从国家经济利益.2006年<关于外国投资者并购境内企业的规定>的六章六十一条与2003年的<外国投资者并购境内企业暂行规定>的二十六条相比,有了很大的改进,但就准入管制而言,仍有外资准入的领域不科学、甄别外资的标准不科学、超国民待遇不合理等问题;就反垄断管制而言,相关市场和市场集中度的界定、域外管辖等问题还有待完善.     

A review of domestic violence arrest statistics in a police department using a pro-arrest policy: Are pro-arrest policies enough?

This study examined domestic violence arrest statistics in a sheriff's department that does not utilize a community approach and provides little police training on domestic violence. In reviewing all domestic violence reports (n=1870) over a 12-month period, less than one-third (28.8%) of the domestic violence cases ended in arrest. Even the most serious charges (aggravated batteries) were more likely to end without an arrest (62.6%) than with an arrest (37.4%). Although results showed that more men were identified (88.4%) and arrested (91.6%) as batterers than women (11.6% and 8.4%, respectively), closer analyses revealed that arrested women were more often charged with more serious charges (60%) than arrested men (26.0%). Finally, gender and race data indicated that while four-fifths (84.6%) of black females were arrested on felony charges, less than one-fifth (19.5%) of white males were arrested on the same charge. These findings demonstrate a need for further research on factors that may affect pro-arrest policy effectiveness.Forensic psychological resident in private practice in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.     

三阶层犯罪构成体系:一个域外经验的反思与质疑

照搬德日三阶层犯罪构成体系并非完善我国犯罪构成体系完善的正确方向。对比我国传统四要件犯罪构成体系,三阶层体系所具有的所谓比较"优点"属于主观臆断。三阶层体系内部存在逻辑上的矛盾;在三阶层体系下,故意、过失的体系地位无法确定,对客观违法与主观责任无法予以真正区分。三阶层体系的具体构造在当今德日刑法理论中已开始被展开质的改造,其通说理论地位在未来还能否被保持尚存在疑问。