The Internationalization of Corporate R&D

THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF CORPORATE R&D• What is the extent of R&D internationalization and what are the trends?• What are the driving forces and barriers?• What are the potential future implications for countries?• What are the options for national policies, with a particular focus on Sweden?The report is focused on the internationalization of R&D by companies and is not consideringacademic science and technology at institutes and universities, or the internationalizationof higher education and research in general. Moreover, the internationalizationof manufacturing and services in general is only commented upon whenit is related to R&D and innovation activities.The report has a global scope and includes studies of Sweden, the U.S., Japan, China andIndia. Other important regions, such as the European Union and Eastern Europe, arediscussed in several studies but are not the focus of a specific chapter in this report. Theinformation and communications technology (ICT) and pharmaceutical sectors come intospecific focus in two of the chapters. Other important industries, such as the automotiveand engineering sectors, are discussed more briefly throughout.The studies have been conducted by the Swedish Institute for Growth Policy Studies(ITPS), with financial support from the Swedish Governmental Agency for InnovationSystems (VINNOVA), as a response to the Swedish government’s increased interest inthe issue.There is ample evidence that the internationalization of corporate R&D is increasing.However, there is still a need to further understand the impact on the national economyas well as the range and effectiveness of different policy instruments. The studies buildupon existing literature and try to contribute more up-to-date empirical evidence basedon interviews, surveys and additional data analysis.For the report, ITPS has benefited from its official statistical databases on corporateR&D in Sweden and its network of science and technology offices around the world.Analysts from ITPS offices in Tokyo, Beijing, Stockholm, Östersund, Washington,D.C. and Los Angeles, along with partners from Swedish academia and the U.S., haveparticipated in the studies. Reference groups of external experts in mainly Sweden, theU.S., India and China have given advice and reviewed the different parts of the report.The studies have relied on a growing body of literature and international conferencescovering the internationalization of R&D and industry localization strategies (see forexample Narula 2003, Kenney & Florida 2004, Serapio & Hayashi 2004, Patel 2004,UNCTAD 2004, 2005, OECD 2005a and NA 2006). Selected findings from previousresearch are reviewed and discussed, where relevant, in the chapters of this report.32