Abstract
Prior research has focused on how firms use a variety of organizational mechanisms to protect their R&D in-vestments from misappropriation risks in foreign countries. Little is known, however, about how firms can rely on non-market factors to induce preferential treatment by host government authorities, thereby protecting their intellectual property overseas. In this paper, we investigate two such non-market factors, one at the country level, the other at the firm level, that are likely to influence the choice of where firms locate their innovation activities: host country inclination towards the firm’s home country and the firm’s political capabilities, respectively. We thus examine how IPR policies and non-market factors interact in protecting firm innovation from misappropriation and in making countries more attractive for innovation-related activities. We find support for our predictions in a sample of 1,341 foreign R&D investments made by 163 firms from 14 home countries over the period 2003–2016.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 104442 |
Journal | Research Policy |
Volume | 51 |
Issue number | 2 |
Number of pages | 18 |
ISSN | 0048-7333 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Mar 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Published online: 30 November 2021.Keywords
- Intellectual property rights
- Foreign R&D investments
- Political capabilities
- Intercountry perceptions
- Innovation policy