ABSTRACT
One of the crucial aspects of the ongoing globalisation of the world economy lies in the new modes of creating and diffusing new technological knowledge. The central role played by contemporary multinational corporations in such processes has been described in the evolutionary literature, stressing the metamorphosis of the MNC from the mere ‘vehicle’ of technical knowledge to the ‘creator’ of new technology. This has been seen as a key dynamic potential of modern MNCs, both for the evolution of the transnational firm as such and for the development of host locations. At the same time, the growing attention devoted by economic analysis to the phenomena of spatial concentration has provided increasing evidence of the highly bounded character of technology creation and spillovers, highlighting the implications for economic growth deriving from the beneficial interdependence between global creators of technology and regional and local innovation systems.
