Technological strategies of MNCS in intermediate countries: the case of Spain

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to improve cur knowledge about the weight MNCS have in the Spanish Innovation System and the strategies they pursue. Besides this, there is the intention of contributing to the open debate about MNCS' role in the international creation and diffusion of technology. For these purposes we have new evidence coming from newly available statistics and later pieces of research completed in recent months. The first one deals with Dutch subsidiaries (DS) established in spain. Here we have followed the same methodology used for GS investigation. The comparison of the two cases will allow us to know whether GS were special cases or not. In spite of the accumulation of recent research, there is still scarce evidence on the influence of NNCS international activity upon the host economies (CANTWELL,1993a; DUNNING, 1994). The second work is a contribution to this debate. It refers to technological regimes (ORSENIGO, 1989; MALERBA & ORSENIGO ,1991) followed by MNCS doing technological innovation in spain in relation to Spanish innovative firms. The similarities and differences which can be found will highlight their influence on the Spanish Innovation System.