Concentration in cross-border research collaborations and MNCs' knowledge creation in a host country

Deskripsi

This study elucidates the previously underexplored structural heterogeneity inherent in multinational corporations' (MNCs) internal linkages by examining the concentration of cross-border collaborations among inventors within host countries. Building on the boundary spanning literature, we develop a two-stage framework identifying the knowledge distortion mechanism arising from this concentration: information overload in the cross-country knowledge absorption stage and long transmission paths and knowledge hoarding in the within-country diffusion stage. Both hinder local knowledge creation. We further propose that cross-country and within-country network structures serve as contingencies moderating this relationship. The negative effects of collaboration concentration are exacerbated by structural holes in cross-country networks but attenuated by the reach and density of within-country networks. Empirical results based on American pharmaceutical MNCs from 1980 to 2008 support our hypotheses.