Chapter 1: The Institutional Understanding of Technological Innovation: Considerations on International R&D Networks

We aim at observing the impact of institutional frameworks on firm performance paying specific attention to mechanisms through which institutions and legal frameworks shape the behaviors, actions and relations in R&D networks. We observed international networks and their R&D location choices. In doing so, we tried to understand how institutional forces rationalize the environment in which the network is embedded and eventually leverage network relations. We focus on actors that are embedded in several institutional environments, where they are offered the possibility to seize different institutional opportunities present in other parts of the network, as diverse institutional spheres can represent windows in which frameworks tend to constrain the actions of firms to a lesser degree. We address the following research questions: How are institutional frameworks impacting on the formation of international networks and R&D location choices? Can international networks be the result of strategies of jurisdiction shopping? Under which circumstances do firms engage in institutional entrepreneurship strategies?