IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aka/aoecon/v64y2014isupplement1p153-180.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

R&D-based integration and upgrading in Hungary

Author

Listed:
  • Magdolna Sass

    (Hungarian Academy of Sciences Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Budapest, Hungary)

  • Andrea Szalavetz

    (Hungarian Academy of Sciences Institute for World Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Budapest, Hungary)

Abstract

The Hungarian economy is highly integrated in global value chains (GVC). Upgrading within GVCs is a key factor of sustaining the initial developmental push GVC participation provides. The article concentrates on R&D-based upgrading opportunities and their practical implementation by multinationals’ Hungarian subsidiaries in the automotive and electronics sectors. The content and the development of R&D activities; Hungary’s locational advantages for R&D projects, and their local impact are analysed based on interviews with twenty foreign-owned companies in the two selected sectors. We show that local R&D units’ activity is multifaceted, though they feature similar upgrading trajectories. Investors’ motivations: the knowledge- and efficiency-seeking nature of their projects and the related locational advantages are examined. We demonstrate that local R&D-intensive subsidiaries have a limited local impact except for the intensive contacts with local universities — with varying content and motives on the side of the R&D units. Drawing on our findings we formulate economic policy recommendations about the ways to foster and enhance R&D-based upgrading.

Suggested Citation

  • Magdolna Sass & Andrea Szalavetz, 2014. "R&D-based integration and upgrading in Hungary," Acta Oeconomica, Akadémiai Kiadó, Hungary, vol. 64(supplemen), pages 153-180, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:aka:aoecon:v:64:y:2014:i:supplement1:p:153-180
    Note: The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement “Growth-Innovation-Competitiveness: Fostering Cohesion in Central and Eastern Europe” (GRINCOH) and of the Hungarian National Scientific and Research Fund (K83982). The authors are grateful to Péter Mihályi and to participants of the 2013 EAEPE conference for their comments on an earlier version of the article. Two anonymous referees provided valuable remarks and suggestions.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://akademiai.com/content/g311t6l4k85j53m4/fulltext.pdf
    Download Restriction: subscription
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mehmet Demirbag & Keith W. Glaister, 2010. "Factors Determining Offshore Location Choice for R&D Projects: A Comparative Study of Developed and Emerging Regions," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(8), pages 1534-1560, December.
    2. Hubert Schmitz & Simone Strambach, 2009. "The organisational decomposition of innovation and global distribution of innovative activities: insights and research agenda," International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 2(4), pages 231-249.
    3. Annamária Inzelt, 2008. "The inflow of highly skilled workers into Hungary: a by-product of FDI," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 422-438, August.
    4. A. Inzelt & A. Schubert, 2011. "Collaboration between researchers from academic and non-academic organisations," Acta Oeconomica, Akadémiai Kiadó, Hungary, vol. 61(4), pages 44-463, December.
    5. Holger Görg & David Greenaway, 2016. "Much Ado about Nothing? Do Domestic Firms Really Benefit from Foreign Direct Investment?," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES AND HOST COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT Volume 53: World Scientific Studies in International Economics, chapter 9, pages 163-189, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    6. Havas, Attila, 2007. "Escaping from the Nutcracker? Innovation policy in Hungary," MPRA Paper 23601, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Frédérique Sachwald, 2008. "Location choices within global innovation networks: the case of Europe," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 364-378, August.
    8. Magnus Blomström & Ari Kokko & Mario Zejan, 2000. "Multinational Corporations and Spillovers," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Foreign Direct Investment, chapter 8, pages 101-133, Palgrave Macmillan.
    9. Karl Aiginger, 2007. "Industrial Policy: A Dying Breed or A Re-emerging Phoenix," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 297-323, December.
    10. Amsden, Alice H. & Tschang, F. Ted, 2003. "A new approach to assessing the technological complexity of different categories of R&D (with examples from Singapore)," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 553-572, April.
    11. repec:bla:jomstd:v:47:y:2010:i:s2:p:1417-1433 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Damijan, Joze P. & Knell, Mark & Majcen, Boris & Rojec, Matija, 2003. "The role of FDI, R&D accumulation and trade in transferring technology to transition countries: evidence from firm panel data for eight transition countries," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 189-204, June.
    13. Robert C. Feenstra, 1998. "Integration of Trade and Disintegration of Production in the Global Economy," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 31-50, Fall.
    14. Ito, Banri & Wakasugi, Ryuhei, 2007. "What factors determine the mode of overseas R&D by multinationals? Empirical evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 1275-1287, October.
    15. A. Gauselmann & M. Knell & J. Stephan, 2011. "What drives FDI in Central-Eastern Europe? Evidence from the IWH-FDI-Micro database," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(3), pages 343-357.
    16. Giroud, Axèle & Jindra, Björn & Marek, Philipp, 2012. "Heterogeneous FDI in Transition Economies – A Novel Approach to Assess the Developmental Impact of Backward Linkages," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(11), pages 2206-2220.
    17. Ari Kokko & Victoria Kravtsova, 2008. "Innovative capability in MNC subsidiaries: evidence from four European transition economies," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 57-75.
    18. Kinoshita, Yuko, 2001. "R&D and Technology Spillovers through FDI: Innovation and Absorptive Capacity," CEPR Discussion Papers 2775, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. ITO Banri & WAKASUGI Ryuhei, 2007. "Factors Determining the Mode of Overseas R&D by Multinationals: Empirical Evidence," Discussion papers 07004, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    20. Buckley, Peter J., 2009. "The impact of the global factory on economic development," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 131-143, April.
    21. Gary Gereffi, 2014. "Global value chains in a post-Washington Consensus world," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 9-37, February.
    22. von Zedtwitz, Maximilian & Gassmann, Oliver, 2002. "Market versus technology drive in R&D internationalization: four different patterns of managing research and development," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 569-588, May.
    23. Luc Soete, 2007. "From Industrial to Innovation Policy," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 273-284, December.
    24. Ram Mudambi, 2008. "Location, control and innovation in knowledge-intensive industries," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 8(5), pages 699-725, September.
    25. John Humphrey & Hubert Schmitz, 2002. "How does insertion in global value chains affect upgrading in industrial clusters?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(9), pages 1017-1027.
    26. repec:bla:jomstd:v:47:y:2010:i:s2:p:1534-1560 is not listed on IDEAS
    27. Dani Rodrik, 2008. "Normalizing Industrial Policy," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 28009.
    28. Bernhard Dachs & Bernd Ebersberger & Hans Lööf, 2008. "The innovative performance of foreign-owned enterprises in small open economies," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 393-406, August.
    29. Kathleen A. Walsh, 2007. "China R&D: A High-Tech Field of Dreams1," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(3), pages 321-335, July.
    30. Havas, Attila, 2007. "The Interplay between Innovation and Production Systems at Various Levels: The case of the Hungarian automotive industry," MPRA Paper 52744, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    31. Rainer Lanz & Sébastien Miroudot & Hildegunn Kyvik Nordås, 2011. "Trade in Tasks," OECD Trade Policy Papers 117, OECD Publishing.
    32. Farok J. Contractor & Vikas Kumar & Sumit K. Kundu & Torben Pedersen, 2010. "Reconceptualizing the Firm in a World of Outsourcing and Offshoring: The Organizational and Geographical Relocation of High‐Value Company Functions," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(8), pages 1417-1433, December.
    33. Bas, Christian Le & Sierra, Christophe, 2002. "'Location versus home country advantages' in R&D activities: some further results on multinationals' locational strategies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 589-609, May.
    34. Baldwin, Richard, 2012. "Trade and industrialisation after globalisation?s 2nd unbundling: How building and joining a supply chain are different and why," CEPR Discussion Papers 8768, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    35. Slavo Radosevic & Anna Kaderabkova (ed.), 2011. "Challenges for European Innovation Policy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14060.
    36. Archibugi, Daniele & Iammarino, Simona, 1999. "The policy implications of the globalisation of innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(2-3), pages 317-336, March.
    37. Rajneesh Narula, 2011. "Attracting and Embedding R&D in Multinational Firms: Policy Options for EU New Member States," Chapters, in: Slavo Radosevic & Anna Kaderabkova (ed.), Challenges for European Innovation Policy, chapter 6, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    38. Cantwell, John & Piscitello, Lucia, 2000. "Accumulating Technological Competence: Its Changing Impact on Corporate Diversification and Internationalization," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 9(1), pages 21-51, March.
    39. Timothy J. Sturgeon & Momoko Kawakami, 2011. "Global value chains in the electronics industry: characteristics, crisis, and upgrading opportunities for firms from developing countries," International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 4(1/2/3), pages 120-147.
    40. Pearce, Robert D., 1999. "Decentralised R&D and strategic competitiveness: globalised approaches to generation and use of technology in multinational enterprises (MNEs)," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(2-3), pages 157-178, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Stojčić, Nebojša & Matić, Matija, 2024. "A journey toward global value chain upgrading: Exploring the transition from backward to forward integration," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    2. Kiss, János, 2022. "Innovatívabbak-e a termelékeny és az exportáló vállalatok? Egy magyar feldolgozóipari minta elemzése [Are productive and exporting companies more innovative? Analysis of a sample of Hungarian mediu," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(4), pages 502-516.
    3. Andrea Elteto & Andrea Szalavetz & Gabor Tury & Aniko Magashazi, 2015. "Upgrading of Hungarian subsidiaries in machinery and automotive global value chains," IWE Working Papers 217, Institute for World Economics - Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lorena D’Agostino, 2015. "The neglected effects of R&D captive offshoring in emerging countries on the creation of knowledge at home," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 42(1), pages 61-91, March.
    2. Dachs, Bernhard, 2017. "Internationalisation of R&D: A Review of Drivers, Impacts, and new Lines of Research," MPRA Paper 83367, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Anja Schmiele, 2012. "Drivers for international innovation activities in developed and emerging countries," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 98-123, February.
    4. Andrea Coveri & Antonello Zanfei, 2023. "Who wins the race for knowledge-based competitiveness? Comparing European and North American FDI patterns," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 292-330, February.
    5. Schmiele, Anja, 2009. "Drivers for international innovation activities in developed and emerging countries," ZEW Discussion Papers 09-064, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    6. Marina Papanastassiou & Robert Pearce & Antonello Zanfei, 2020. "Changing perspectives on the internationalization of R&D and innovation by multinational enterprises: A review of the literature," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(4), pages 623-664, June.
    7. Lorena M. D'Agostino & Grazia D. Santangelo, 2012. "The Global Fragmentation of R&D Activities: The Home Region Perspective," DRUID Working Papers 12-06, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    8. Liu, Ting & Li, Xizhuo, 2022. "How Do MNCs Conduct Local Technological Innovation in a Host Country? An Examination From Subsidiaries' Perspective," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(3).
    9. Hall, Bronwyn H., 2011. "The internationalization of R&D," MERIT Working Papers 2011-049, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    10. Cozza, Claudio & Franco, Chiara & Perani, Giulio, 2018. "R&D endowments at home driving R&D internationalisation: Evidence from the Italian business R&D survey," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 277-289.
    11. Gavin Murphy & Iulia Siedschlag, 2018. "Determinants of R&D offshoring: firm-level evidence from a small open economy," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 35(2), pages 529-553, August.
    12. Neil Foster-McGregor, 2012. "Innovation and Technology Transfer across Countries," wiiw Research Reports 380, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    13. Miklos Szanyi & Ichiro Iwasaki & Peter Csizmadia & Miklos Illessy & Csaba Mako, 2009. "The concentric-circle model of FDI spilklover effects estimation using Hungarian panel data," IWE Working Papers 191, Institute for World Economics - Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    14. Cuervo-Cazurra, Alvaro & Pananond, Pavida, 2023. "The rise of emerging market lead firms in global value chains," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    15. Martinez-Noya, Andrea & Garcia-Canal, Esteban & Guillen, Mauro F., 2012. "International R&D service outsourcing by technology-intensive firms: Whether and where?," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 18-37.
    16. Petr Pavlínek & Pavla Žížalová, 2016. "Linkages and spillovers in global production networks: firm-level analysis of the Czech automotive industry," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(2), pages 331-363.
    17. Ichiro Iwasaki & P�ter Csizmadia & Miklós Ill�ssy & Csaba Makó & Miklós Szanyi, 2012. "The Nested Variable Model of FDI Spillover Effects: Estimation Using Hungarian Panel Data," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(4), pages 673-709, October.
    18. Quintás, Mari­a A. & Vázquez, Xosé H. & Garci­a, José M. & Caballero, Gloria, 2008. "Geographical amplitude in the international generation of technology: Present situation and business determinants," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 1371-1381, September.
    19. Daniel Münich & Martin Srholec & Michael Moritz & Johannes Schäffler, 2014. "Mothers and Daughters: Heterogeneity of German Direct Investments in the Czech Republic," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2014(1), pages 42-62.
    20. Blomkvist, Katarina & Kappen, Philip & Zander, Ivo, 2014. "Superstar inventors—Towards a people-centric perspective on the geography of technological renewal in the multinational corporation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 669-682.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    research and development; global value chains; upgrading; Hungary;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aka:aoecon:v:64:y:2014:i:supplement1:p:153-180. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Kriston, Orsolya (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://akademiai.hu/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.