Globalisation at bay? Multinational growth and technology spillover

Antonello Zanfei, University of Urbino

Abstract

The paper focuses on a specific aspect of globalisation, namely the growing role of transnational corporations in the international organisation of production and innovation. It will be argued that the nature and characteristics of international production are changing and new opportunities for technological spillovers to host economies are associated to this change. However the available evidence on the actual economic impact of multinational expansion is shaky and contradictory. This seems to have led to a sort of deadlock in the current debate, which is much too often blocked in a sterile juxtaposition between pro-global and anti-global views based on rather weak empirical grounds. The fact that there is limited uncontroversial evidence of positive effects of international production may have to do with the lack of institutional tools available to govern the globalisation process. In other words, what is missing is a set of negotiated rules and institutions enabling the economies involved in international production activities to capture and share the potential benefits associated to it. From this perspective, the paper singles out the areas wherein new institutions are needed, and provides a few insights on some of the issues these institutions should address