Global R&D activities of US multinational corporations: some empirical results

Some preliminary findings of an ongoing research project on global R&D activities of multinational corporations are presented. In a questionnaire survey among US multinational corporations (MNCs) data were collected on 132 foreign R&D facilities. The author attempts to describe the foreign R&D facilities of US MNCs along various dimensions such as size and regional distribution, focus, and industrial sector of activities; generate and discuss a set of decision parameters that explain why corporations operate R&D facilities outside their home country; and illustrate how these parameters vary across certain R&D facilities