From process to performance: extending the OLI perspective of R&D Internationalization

Existing studies concerning the internationalization of research and development (R&D) base their frameworks on Dunning’s ownership-location-internalization (OLI) eclectic paradigm, focusing on the rationales and processes of R&D internationalization. Researches on the performance implications of R&D internationalization are limited. In this study we set out to investigate the impact of international R&D on innovative performance, and later take into account the roles of research capability and multinationality. We analyze an 11-year data set from 2000 to 2010 of 66 Taiwanese large publicly listed firms in the semiconductor industry. Departing from the OLI framework, we not only construct our hypotheses based on the belief that R&D internationalization serves as a vehicle through which research capability maximizes the innovation output, but also examine the relationship between foreign R&D and firm’s innovative performance. Firms with higher extent of research capability should be able to absorb and expl...