The Resource Commitment of Multinational Enterprise R&D Activities

This dissertation analyses the significance of resource commitment to the ability to access co-location advantages and to innovate for MNEs’ geographically dispersed R&D subsidiaries. It refines the definition of resource commitment by aggregating conceptions highlighted by the resource-based view, transaction cost economics and institutional theory, and assesses the characteristics and antecedents associated with varying R&D resource commitment positions. The analyses show that the external environment, the purpose of R&D activities and firm experience influence the resource commitment position of a firm’s R&D activities. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are adopted to establish the effects of various resource commitment positions on (a) an R&D subsidiary’s access to co-location advantages and (b) the innovation output of R&D subsidiaries. Both are important to the success of the R&D subsidiary and to the long-term competitiveness of the MNE. Distinguishing resource levels and commitment levels, the latter are especially important to the subsidiary’s ability to access co-location advantages, a finding that lends more support for the institutional theory-related dimensions of resource commitment than the resource-based view-related ones. Finally, the dissertation shows that the commitment level is positively related to the total patent output by subsidiaries. The positive relationship holds for inventions that contribute to technological fields in which the MNE is specialised. It does not hold for subsidiaries’ inventions in technological fields in which the MNE is not specialised. The results demonstrate the importance of adopting the resource commitment concept to the study of MNE R&D activities and provide scholars with a better understanding of MNE dispersed R&D behavior.