Do Foreign-owned Subsidiaries in China Follow a Distinctive Pattern of Technological Knowledge Sourcing?
研究了1996-2005年间在华外资子公司的美国专利，发现它们通过跨越组织、技术和地理边界的非本地化搜索来发展技术能力，这对理解跨国公司的知识管理和政府政策有启示。
Abstract This study investigates the China-located subsidiaries of foreign-owned multinational corporations (MNCs) for patterns of intra-firm and interorganizational technological knowledge accumulation. We analyze US patents attributed to those subsidiaries between 1996 and 2005 and argue that MNCs have recently tended toward open network structures, enabling subsidiaries in emerging markets to develop technological capabilities by searching for diversified inter-organizational knowledge sources beyond geographically local contexts to compensate for local limitations and deficiencies. Findings show that subsidiaries in China have gradually developed their technological capabilities through non-localized searches beyond their organizational, technological, and geographical boundaries. The study contributes to the literature on MNC organizational restructuring, subsidiary evolution, and subsidiary-level non-localized knowledge searches. The findings also have important implications for knowledge spillovers, MNC knowledge management, and government policies.