Location of R&D and High-Tech Production by Vertically Integrated Multinationals

This article extends the theory of multinational firms by allowing for agglomeration forces in firm-level activities such as R&D as well as in production. We develop a two-country general-equilibrium model where firms make separate choices about the location of R&D and production. There are R&D spillovers and a home-market effect creating incentives for firms to locate production in the relatively large market. For relatively weak R&D spillovers and intermediate trade costs, the smaller economy tends to specialise in R&D. While skilled labour may gain from hosting an agglomeration of R&D activities, unskilled labour Copyright 2007 The Author(s). Journal compilation Royal Economic Society 2007.