Multinationals and Economic Geography: Location, Technology and Innovation

After more than fifty years of systematic research on multinational enterprises (MNEs) what is apparent is that there is, as yet, no unified or dominant theory of the MNE. The objective of this book is to bring into focus one particular dimension of MNE behaviour and activity that has been relatively under-researched - namely the geography of the multinational enterprise - as understood through the lens of innovation and technological change. The authors clearly demonstrate that geography is becoming increasingly important for MNEs and, in turn, MNEs are becoming progressively more important for economic geography. The pivot on which this vital relationship turns is the creation, diffusion and management of new knowledge.This unique book will prove a fascinating read for academics, students and researchers across a broad range of areas including geography, economic geography, regional science, international business and management, innovation studies, economic development. Professionals such as corporate managers and policymakers in these fields would also find this book to be of great interest.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Introduction: Multinational Enterprises, Innovation and Geography in Todays’ Globalized World Part I: Multinationals, Location and Innovation: Foundations and Extensions 2. Old and New(er) Theories of Multinational Enterprises: Selected Perspectives and the Search for Location 3. Firm Location Behaviour in Theory: Extensions to Multiplant and Multinational Firms 4. The Sources of Innovation: The Firm and the Local System Part II: Multinationals and the Changing Economic Geography of Globalization 5. Multinationals, Variety of Geographies and Evolution 6. Globalization and Multinationals in a Historical Process 7. Multinationals, Connectivity and Global Cities 8. Multinationals, Emerging Economies and the Changing Economic Geography 9. Conclusions: Review of the Arguments and Implications for Future Research Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Simona Iammarino, Professor of Economic Geography, London School of Economics and Political Science and Philip McCann, Sir Terry Leahy Chair in Urban and Regional Economics, The Productivity Institute, Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, UK

Review :
'Iammarino and McCann bring together their own wide-ranging research into multinationals, as well as industrial clusters, the shed light into how firms are developing new strategies aimed at gaining access to strategic knowledge and technology in particular subnational locations, typically world cities that are linked into global innovation networks.' ‘This book on multinationals and economic geography by two world leading economic geographers is a landmark that provides an integrated and dynamic perspective on the economic geography of the multinational enterprise. . . This book is an absolute “must-read” for any scholar and any student that is interested in multinationals and their location.’ '. . . the authors adopt a rigorous textbook approach, with a particularly detailed coverage of relevant empirical studies and findings of recent trends and phenomena . . . The convergence of ideas and arguments between IB and economic geography, the combination of which is intended to jointly develop a more holistic understanding of economic activity dispersed across space, has definitely taken off, and this book most certainly constitutes an invaluable toolkit for anyone wishing to contribute to this emerging and vibrant area of IB scholarship.' ‘. . . the authors must be highly credited as being among the few economic geographers and regional scientists next to scholars from the international business and management fields responsible for building sustainable bridges across various disciplines with regards to developing a spatial MNE research. Therefore, the book offers an exceptional read and a brilliant conceptual and empirical analysis based on two decades of the authors’ own work with manifold astonishing examples framed by illustrative and informative boxes and features with current data useful for application to everyone interested in MNE in general, and to a wide array of academic scholars from economics, organisational studies, management science as well as international business and economic geography in particular. Ultimately, the book presents an important milestone towards a more balanced three-legged stool of MNE research with reference to the location dimension.’