Multinationals and the internationalization of R&D: New developments in German companies☆

Theories on multinational companies ’ generally presume that a technological advantage resulting from innovative R&D of the parent corporation is a prerequisite for its ability to establish manufacturing subsidiaries abroad, that technology is transferred in a unidirectional flow from the parent company to these subsidiaries, and that R&D at the affiliates is primarily concerned with an adaptation of the transferred technologies to the special needs of the host markets and, in some cases, with additional innovation needed to serve these markets. ’ Owing to the fact that the international transfer of technology largely occurs within the multinationals, ’ the internationalization of production by