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The current stage of globalization involves geographically dispersed research anddevelopment (R&D) investments that are not confined to advanced economies.These cross-border R&D investments are driven by multinational enterprises’(MNEs’) strategies for exploring and/or exploiting foreign locations. In this paper,we analyse location choice and the moderating effect of project-level investmentstrategy (i.e. exploration or exploitation) and type of host economy (i.e. advancedor emerging) on the importance of the innovation framework and local innovationcapabilities. Our analysis of 588 R&D-related foreign direct investment (FDI) projectsin the pharmaceutical and biotech industries during the 2006–2016 period revealsthat whereas a host country’s innovation framework and capability overall do affectthe location decision, their ultimate effects are conditional on the combination ofproject-level investment strategy and type of economy. Our findings have policyimplications for FDI policies aiming at enhancing linkages between MNEs andlocal actors and national science, technology, innovation and educational policiesand programmes.

Are Born Globals really different from firms with other start-up histories? We address this question based on a unique longitudinal data set that tracks all Danish manufacturing start-ups founded between 1994 and 2008 (23,201 firms). This novel application of register data allows us to provide the first detailed account of Born Globals compared to proper control groups of other start-ups. Chiefly we investigate firm performance, which in turn permits interference on socioeconomic impact. We find that the occurrence of BGs is not specific to certain sectors, nor does their frequency change in light of rapid ICT progress. However, we find that Born Globals have significantly higher turnover and employment levels as well as job growth rates. Moreover, they show a considerably wider market reach, but little to no productivity advantage compared to firms with less or later internationalization. Thus, Born Globals are special in some but not all aspects.

This paper investigates the effect of market familiarity at export market entry on the subsequent survival of firms in individual export markets. Applying diverse theoretical lenses, competing hypo...