Location Advantages and Subsidiaries’ R&D Activities in Emerging Economies: Exploring the Effect of Employee Mobility

Authors

Qin Yang, Temple University
Crystal X. Jiang, Temple University

Document Type

Article

Comments

Published by Springer Science & Business Media B.V. in Asia Pacific Journal of Management, volume 24 issue 3, 2007.

Keywords

employee mobility; intellectual property protection; location advantages; subsidiaries’ R&D

Publisher

Springer Science & Business Media B.V.

Publication Source

Asia Pacific Journal of Management

Rights Management

Copyright © 2007, Asia Pacific Journal of Management

Abstract

With multinational corporations increasingly seeking subsidiaries’ specific advantages in foreign countries to develop their innovative capabilities, internationalization of research and development has been greatly emphasized. However, in emerging economies, managers are encountering the challenge of high employee mobility under the weak intellectual property protection regime. This article investigates subsidiaries’ employee mobility and proposes that it negatively moderates the relationship between location advantages and the level of subsidiaries’ R&D. This article extends R&D internationalization and enhances current understanding of subsidiaries’ R&D activities. Further, it provides managerial implications as to how managers can improve R&D outcome by mitigating obstacles in emerging economies.