Introduction

Abstract

This introduction proposes a brief synopsis of the main topics and arguments covered in this book. The book is divided into two parts. The first part offers an overview on the nature and the dynamics of innovation in multinational firms, analyzes recent trends in R&D internationalization and discusses the wide-ranging implications arising from the management of innovation across geographical space (Chapters 1–2). The second part emphasizes the increasingly crucial role of foreign subsidiaries and host locations, and systematizes relevant theoretical perspectives and levels of analysis to develop an analytical framework for the study of geographically distributed innovation in multinational firms (Chapters 3–5). Chapter 6 concludes and offers directions for future research.