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Location advantages and subsidiaries’ R&D activities in emerging economies: Exploring the effect of employee mobility

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Abstract

With multinational corporations increasingly seeking subsidiaries’ specific advantages in foreign countries to develop their innovative capabilities, internationalization of research and development has been greatly emphasized. However, in emerging economies, managers are encountering the challenge of high employee mobility under the weak intellectual property protection regime. This article investigates subsidiaries’ employee mobility and proposes that it negatively moderates the relationship between location advantages and the level of subsidiaries’ R&D. This article extends R&D internationalization and enhances current understanding of subsidiaries’ R&D activities. Further, it provides managerial implications as to how managers can improve R&D outcome by mitigating obstacles in emerging economies.

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  1. Fox School of Business and Management, General & Strategic Management Department, Temple University, 380 Speakman Hall, 1810 N. 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA

    Qin Yang & Crystal X. Jiang

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  1. Qin Yang
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Correspondence to Qin Yang.

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We thank Professor Mike Peng, Editor-in-Chief of the Asia Pacific Journal of Management, anonymous APJM referees and Academy of International Business Conference referees for their valuable comments. We also thank Yung Hua, Managing Editor, for editorial assistance. We appreciate the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) of Temple University for providing funding to present this article at the 2006 Academy of International Business Beijing Conference.

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Yang, Q., Jiang, C.X. Location advantages and subsidiaries’ R&D activities in emerging economies: Exploring the effect of employee mobility. Asia Pacific J Manage 24, 341–358 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-007-9042-7

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