해외다국적기업 국내자회사의 연구개발(R&D) 활동 수준 결정 요인과 역할 유형에 관한 실증연구

Abstract

This study is an empirical analysis on the typology of role and the level of R&D activities of MNCs' foreign subsidiaries in international business. First, we analyze the effects of the industrial and technological environments of the local market and the capability of the subsidiary, MNC HQ, and resource(knowledge) exchange among MNCs at the level of subsidiaries' R&D activity. Second, the type of subsidiary is classified by the level of MNC use of subsidiary competence(MUSC) and market power(MP). We used a questionnaire survey with 1,016 foreign subsidiaries with more than 50% foreign equity in 2010. The list of subsidiaries comes from the data set of KIS Value.

The results of the R&D activities analysis of MNCs' foreign subsidiaries show that the technological environment of the local market, capability of the subsidiary itself and the resource(knowledge) exchange ability among MNCs has significant effects on the level of subsidiaries' R&D activities. This is important in discovering the empirical factors of determining the level of subsidiary R&D activity through analyzing foreign subsidiaries in Korea. The second empirical results of role typology show that the subsidiaries which are classified as Global Leaders (high level of MUSC & MP) are 9.8% and the Creator(high level of MUSC & low level of MP) is 0%. Foreign subsidiaries which are classified as The Sponge(low level of MUSC & high level of MP) are 71.5% and the Local User(low level of MUSC & MP) are 18.7% in Korea. In this study we found that the level of R&D activities among those four groups are significantly different. Developing research on the role and typology of foreign MNCs' subsidiary is significant in further analyzing international business structures and future analysis.

As mentioned above, the implications of this research were summarized as follows. The Korean government, in trying to attract foreign investment & foreign MNCs' subsidiaries, will be essential in supporting and improving the technology of research & laboratories. This needs to be increased to entice foreign MNCs' subsidiaries as well as foreign investment. Improving the technology in research & laboratories will create a spillover effect in terms of positive feedback. The resulting determinants of local R&D activity level and the typology of role of foreign MNCs' subsidiary provides a rich set of possibilities for further theoretical and empirical development in terms of foreign MNCs' subsidiary research.