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Internationalization of R&D and innovation by Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) has undergone a gradual and comprehensive change in perspective over the past 50 years. From sporadic works in the late 1950s and in the 1960s, it became a systematically analysed topic in the 1970s, starting with pioneering reports and “foundation texts”. Our review unfolds the theoretical and empirical evolution of the literature from dyadic interpretations of centralization versus decentralization of R&D by MNEs to more comprehensive frameworks, wherein established MNEs from Advanced Economies still play a pivotal role, but new players and places also emerge in the global generation and diffusion of knowledge. Hence views of R&D internationalization increasingly rely on concepts, ideas and methods from IB and other related disciplines such as industrial organization, international economics and economic geography. Two main findings are highlighted. First, scholarly research pays an increasing attention to the network-like characteristics of international R&D activities. Second, different streams of literature have emphasized the role of location- specific factors in R&D internationalization. The increasing emphasis on these aspects has created new research opportunities in some key areas, including inter alia: cross-border knowledge sourcing strategies, changes in the geography of R&D and innovation, and the international fragmentation of production and R&D activities.

This paper analyzes the main drivers of external competitiveness in times of crisis for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). We focus on the Italian experience in the midst of the financial and sovereign-debt crisis, and present robust evidence based on a comprehensive survey of Italian companies in the manufacturing and production service sectors (the MET dataset). Overall, our results confirm the high degree of heterogeneity of the Italian system and the differences between internationalized and domestic companies in terms of performance as well as structural and behavioral dimensions. In particular, data highlight not only the strict correlation between internationalization and innovative activities but also a positive change of attitude of Italian firms towards these strategies. Our analysis shows that, whilst structural factors play a key role for external competitiveness, other critical firm-level aspects trigger superior performances, especially strategic profiles, technological capabilities, and proactive behaviors such as innovativeness and R&D investment. Importantly, we document disproportionate effects of innovation for smaller and less productive companies. This points at dynamic strategies as a potential tool to fill the gap between larger/more productive companies and the set of less structured firms, a segment representing an ideal target for policy measures.

This paper contributes to explaining the dynamics of eGovernment diffusion in Italian municipalities which play a key role in interfacing citizens and Local Public Administrations. By defining appropriate synthetic indicators, the study will analyse the relationships between the digitalization of back office services - in terms of ICT equipment and use as well as inner work process re-engineering - and front office services - in terms of quantity and interactivity of online services provided by municipalities. The analysis uses two integrated datasets. The first one, set up by ISTAT, provides information on the ITC use in 3,323 administrative bodies, representing the 8,100 Italian municipalities. The second, set up by the so called RCC Observatory (Regional Competence Centres for eGovernment and the Information Society) is made up of 1,825 data units and contains precise information on a set of online services provided by the official websites municipalities. This study provides a contribution to the political debate about the priority of investing in front and back office services so as to facilitate a more effective introduction of new technologies in public sector. Results show that municipalities appear to follow different adoption patterns and heterogeneous innovation paths.

This article surveys the debate on the links between innovation, productivity and international production and draws some implications for the analysis of industrial dynamics. It is argued that international operations traditionally based on the exploitation of "ex ante" technological advantages tend to co-exist with cross-border activities which are aimed at learning and accumulating "ex post" advantages. The interaction between these two strategies entails a growing resort to a "double network" organisation of innovative activities, based on both internal linkages within multinationals and on the complementary development of external networks of relationships with foreign sources of knowledge. Moreover, this evolutionary pattern implies that multinationals accentuate their role as "bridging institutions" connecting different innovation systems.

This paper focuses on the links between labor market institutions and offshoring, with specific reference to the role of codetermination in shaping the international operations of German firms. We use case studies to illustrate how works councils deal with three important aspects of offshoring processes: the timeliness of information they receive from the management, the negotiation of compensation mechanisms and the design of alternative strategies. While we found no evidence of works councils impeding offshoring, there are elements to suggest that they may influence the way such decisions are taken, and moderate their effects on employment in the home country.

Based on a longitudinal case study of virtual library development, we highlight three important aspects that characterize the links between governance and innovation in public sector innovation. First, the examined case shows that the organizational complexities have increased in the transition from what could be considered as a spurious New Public Management approach, which incorporates elements of the traditional hierarchical model and elements of market-like competition, towards a “networked model” implying more emphasis on bottom-up decision making and a greater involvement of end users. Second, we provide evidence of increasing co-creation activities in which end users are involved not only in choosing out of a given menu of alternative solutions to given problems, but also in the definition of the menu itself, and in shaping and implementing innovative solutions. Third, the increasing involvement of users has created important innovation opportunities that are more and more characterized by their frugal/bricolage nature, hence more localized but not necessarily trivial and relatively easy to diffuse to different contexts.

Using firm level data on Italian manufacturing industry, we examine how trade activities are related to workforce composition and wages. We contribute to empirical research on these issues in three ways. First, we provide novel evidence that is consistent with multi-attribute models on firm heterogeneity and trade. In fact we show that even after controlling for various firm characteristics, including size and capital intensity, exporters still pay higher wages and employ more skilled workers than non exporters. Second, we consider the engagement of firms in international transactions, either by means of exports, imports or a combination of the two. We show that failing to control for the importing activities may bias upward export premia. Third, we look at how the wage and the employment structures of trading firms change with the country of destination and origin of trade flows. We find that wage and skill premia increase for both exporters and importers as they trade with more distant markets. Richer countries are instead associated with higher premia for importers and not for exporters.

How do trade activities affect firms' employment and wages structures? Using firm level data on Italian manufacturing firms, this paper adds to the existing literature, by assessing how the degree of involvement in international trade impacts on workforce composition, earning levels and wage inequality. We differentiate firms involved in both trading activities - namely two-way traders - from firms that only export, and from those that only import. We show that two-way traders have a higher propensity to employ non-production workers, exhibit significant wage gaps, but also pay higher wages for both production and non production workers, relative to non internationalized firms and to firms which are involved only in either export or import. The paper also looks at how the wages and the skill structure of the trading firms change with the country of destination and origin and with the firms' sectoral and geographical diversification.

This paper undertakes a brief evaluation of the trends in the internationalization of innovative activities. We provide a taxonomy of R&D internationalization strategies, and discuss the main relevant theoretical and empirical issues, before discussing the centripetal and centrifugal forces underlying the nature and evolution of cross border innovation. We address the issue of international technology partnering as a key strategy that is complementary to the internationalisation of innovative activities through internal means, before raising important policy dimensions that derive from these debates.