Dissertation
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research
Firm innovation is pivotal for sustained economic growth, fostering market competitiveness and contributing to technology development. Understanding its drivers is key to addressing current global challenges such as climate change, healthcare, and digital transformation. This dissertation sheds light on various aspects of firm innovation: multinational firms’ innovation offshoring, recent greentech trends among top R&D investors, and the effectiveness of governmental R&D support for young innovative companies.
Chapter 1 analyzes how German multinational companies (MNCs) organize global production and innovation. Our findings suggest that larger MNCs offshore innovation to multiple countries, with and without affiliates. They do so according to countries’ comparative advantage in different technology areas, with applied innovation more likely to be co-located with production than basic innovation.
Chapter 2 highlights the important role of top R&D investors in the development of green technologies. A decline in both the number and share of high-quality green patents originating from these firms can be observed since 2012. This raises concerns given the urgency for green solutions required by the 2050 net-zero goal.
Chapter 3 analyzes the effectiveness of a French R&D support scheme for young innovative companies. Since 2004, such firms can benefit from reduced social security contributions for R&D employees. We show that beneficiaries are more successful relative to comparable young firms, as they are more likely to survive, to be acquired, and to develop patentable technologies.