The internationalization of firms in the service industries: channels, determinants and sectoral patterns

Castellacci, Fulvio (2010): The internationalization of firms in the service industries: channels, determinants and sectoral patterns. Published in: Technological Forecasting and Social Change , Vol. 77, No. 3 (2010): pp. 500-513.

Abstract

The paper presents the results of a new survey on the international activities of Norwegian enterprises in the service industries. The survey focuses on three main internationalization channels: international sales, international cooperation and R&D outsourcing. The empirical analysis studies the relevance of these channels, and investigates the related strategies, objectives and determinants. International sales and collaborations emerge as the two most relevant channels, whereas the scope for R&D outsourcing seems to be far more limited. The analysis of the determinants of international activities leads to three main results: (1) the innovative capability of firms matters for their international performance; (2) the various internationalization channels seem to be complement, rather than substitute, strategies to compete in foreign markets; (3) sectoral specificities greatly affect firms’ internationalization strategies and performance.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: internationalization; international cooperations; R&D outsourcing; innovation; service industries; survey data
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F0 - General; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights; L - Industrial Organization > L1 - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance

References

[1] Y. Aharoni, L. Nachum, Globalization of Services: Some Implications for Theory and Practice, Routledge, London (2000).

[2] M. Miozzo, I. Miles, Internationalization, Technology and Services, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK (2002).

[3] F. Castellacci, Innovation and the competitiveness of industries: Comparing the mainstream and the evolutionary approaches, Technological Forecasting and Social Change 75 (2008) 984-1006.

[4] B. Carlsson, Internationalization of innovation systems: A survey of the literature, Research Policy 35 (1) (2006) 56-67.

[5] D. Archibugi, J. Michie, The globalisation of technology: a new taxonomy, Cambridge Journal of Economics 19 (1995) 121-140.

[6] D. Archibugi, S. Iammarino, The policy implications of the globalisation of innovation, Research Policy 28 (1999) 317-336.

[7] C. Wang, L. Hsu, S. Fang, The determinants of internationalization: evidence from the Taiwan high technology industry, Technological Forecasting and Social Change 75 (9) (2008) 1388-1395.

[8] R. Evangelista, Sectoral patterns of technological change in services, Economics of Innovation and New Technologies 9 (2000) 183-221.

[9] I. Drejer, Identifying innovation in surveys of services: a Schumpeterian perspective, Research Policy 33 (2004) 551-562.

[10] I. Miles, Innovation in services, in: J. Fagerberg, D. C. Mowery, R. R. Nelson (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Innovation, Oxford University Press, Oxford (2005).

[11] M. Miozzo, L. Soete, Internationalization of services: a technological perspective, Technological Forecasting and Social Change 67 (2001) 159-185.

[12] F. Castellacci, F. Technological paradigm, regimes and trajectories: Manufacturing and service industries in a new taxonomy of sectoral patterns of innovation, Research Policy 37 (2008) 978-994.

[13] C. Castaldi, The relative weight of manufacturing and services in Europe: An innovation perspective, Technological Forecasting and Social Change 76 (6) (2008) 709-722.

[14] B. Hoeckman, C. Primo Braga, Protection and trade in services: a survey, Open Economies Review 8 (3) (1997) 285-308.

[15] F. Castellacci, Innovation in Norway in a European Perspective, Nordic Journal of Political Economy, 34 (2008) 1-43.

[16] D. Greenaway, R. Kneller, Firm heterogeneity, Exporting and foreign direct investment, Economic Journal, 117 (2007) 134-161.

[17] R. Narula, A. Zanfei, Globalisation of innovation: the role of multinational enterprises, in: J. Fagerberg, D. C. Mowery, R. R. Nelson (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Innovation, Oxford University Press, Oxford (2005).

[18] R. Veugelers, B. Cassiman, Make and buy in innovation strategies: evidence from Belgian manufacturing firms, Research Policy, 28 (1999) 63-80.