Geographic Agglomeration, MNC Characteristics, and Knowledge Acquisition of Japanese R&D Subsidiaries in the United States

In this study, we examine both locational and organizational factors that influence knowledge acquisition performance of overseas Japanese research and development (R&D) subsidiaries. Using patent citation as a measure of foreign knowledge acquisition, we investigate the effects of geographic agglomeration and multinational corporation parent and subsidiary characteristics on subsidiary learning performance. The results of our analysis show that the level of geographic agglomeration in the host location is positively associated with knowledge acquisition performance of overseas R&D subsidiaries, while technological strength of the parent company and subsidiary age are negatively associated with knowledge acquisition performance.