In order to access and exploit knowledge, MNCs are induced to make FDI in technological districts. It occurs in a two-step process: first joint venture and then acquisition. This perspective is consistent with the evolutionary theory of multinational corporations, which looks at technology...

Our contribution to the expanding literature on the globalization of research and innovation is to investigate the extent to which sector-specific developments in an emerging technology (such as increasing interdisciplinarity and complexity) affect inventive activities developed abroad. We look...

The dissemination of knowledge in industrial districts (ID) and clusters has often been linked to the existence of a specific tacit knowledge. Thus, the companies belonging to ID specialization sector might sustain a distinctive competitive advantage against isolated firms. However, the...

According to the dominant literature, spatial proximity matters for successful inter-firm collaboration for innovation and more generally for knowledge transfer. This assumption is based on the argument that the tacit character of complex knowledge makes repetitive face-to-face interactions and...

The foreign direct investments (FDI) spillovers are probably the most extensively analyzed channel of knowledge spillovers (the most important channel for the transfer of knowledge and technology to firms of the host country). Scholars as well as policy makers increasingly treat FDI spillovers...