Comment:

1
Comment Internationalisation of RD - German
viewpointChristopher Palmberg, Research
Institute of the Finnish Economy (ETLA)

• Empirically rich analysis of topical issue
  position of incumbent NIS in new global division
  of labour in RD
• Potential limitations industries/firms are
  multi-technology, choice of RD location
  indicator, exclusion of software almost by
  default
• Possible interpretations/hypothesis (cf. Mariani
  2002)
• science-based RD increasingly detached from
  production
• application-oriented RD stickier in this sense
• compare e.g. with chain-linked-model (Kline
  Rosenberg 1986), which are the possible
  implications?

2
Global distribution of industrial production by
regions 1750-2003
Source Bairoch (1982), ETLA
3
Can incumbent NIS maintain/develop their global
position in science-based RD?

• Small absolute size/scarce resources (is
  economies of scope enough?) competition from
  BRIC countries
• Complementarities between science-based and
  application-oriented RD
• Schumpeterian creative combinations
  science/application mixtures high/low-tech
  mixtures tangible/intangible mixtures
• will advanced lead users of science-based RD
  also relocate?
• Internationalisation of science-based RD
  internationalisation of educational and public
  research system
• Incumbent NIS at a disadvantage in terms of
  unfavorable age distributions?

4
Finnish viewpoint as measured through patents?
Share of foreign patents of MNEs at USPTO

• Inventor team grown in size, mainly entry of US,
  Germans and Swedes
• Low share of foreign patents but these score
  higher by originality
• Share highest in ICT, electronics (Nokia) lowest
  in mechanical
• Ongoing reseach
• inward vs. outward RD
• nature of RD
• MAs vs. alliances
• good or bad?

1987-90 1991-95
Belgium 56 67
UK 50 56
Holland 54 56
Switzerland 43 52
Canada 40 44
Sweden 31 42
France 18 33
Germany 17 21
Finland 1985-89 13 1990-94 17 1995-99 21
Affiliation of first inventor foreign
? Palmberg Pajarinen (2004), ETLA Discussion
Paper no. 916