Multinational corporations and the location of technological innovation in the UK regions

In a rapidly globalizing economy, and particularly in the face of a process of economic integration such as that occurring in the European Union, regions forge an increasing number of linkages with other locations within and across national boundaries through the local technological development efforts of multinational corporations (MNCs). By using patents granted to the largest industrial firms - arranged by the region host to the research facility responsible - the paper explores the location of innovative activities in MNCs, and the relationship between the profiles of technological specialization of foreign-owned and indigenous companies in the UK regions. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that the pattern of MNC networks for innovation conforms to a hierarchy of regional centres, and that the pattern of technological specialization of foreign-owned affiliates in different regional locations depends upon the position of the region in the locational hierarchy.