Collaboration between foreign subsidiaries and universities is relevant for multinational companies (MNCs) that aim at absorbing knowledge from abroad, as well as for universities and policymakers attempting to maximize the spillovers associated with foreign direct investment (FDI). In this paper, we explore how MNCs collaborate with universities in the foreign countries where they locate and provide new empirical evidence for Spain as a host country. Using a probit model with panel data comprising 9,614 firms for the period 2005-2011, we explore differences between the propensity to collaborate with universities of foreign subsidiaries and Spanish firms. Subsequently, building on a new survey to 89 foreign subsidiaries and on a more detailed analysis of five case studies, we discuss the variety of motivations that drive collaboration with universities and relate the scale and scope of such collaborations with the dynamic mandates of foreign subsidiaries in global innovation networks.

Over the last decade we have witnessed an unprecedented growth in the number of crossborder R&D investments towards large emerging countries such as China and India. However, small middle-income countries have played a marginal role as recipients of R&D-related FDI despite increasing policy efforts. In particular, several Latin American countries have recently launched new policy programs with the aim of attracting this kind of investments, but it remains uncertain whether public incentives can be useful to compensate for other locational disadvantages. The case of Chile provides an interesting empirical setting to explore these issues because during the last decade its government has been increasingly promoting R&D-related FDI through new policy instruments. This article suggests that for national innovation systems to benefit from the attraction of internationally-mobile R&D it is critical for public policies to ensure that appropriate linkages are established with local actors that hold absorptive capacities. Equally important for a small emerging economy like Chile is to prioritize R&D-related FDI in strategic technology niches where the country can realistically attain critical mass.

Energy reforms play an essential role in technological change as they aim to contribute to an open market: costs reduction, competitiveness, and technology development. This article seeks to assess the impact and effect of reforms on the energy sector. The article’s objective is to evaluate the process of deregulation policies and their micro and macroeconomic effects on the energy sector, and specifically on electricity, by analyzing literature related to electricity reforms. Further, the article intends to explore the impacts of deregulation on power pricing, power market, electricity accessibility, innovation, and competitiveness. Another objective of the article is to analyze the role played by various stakeholders in the deregulation policies, including the government, national entities like states, the private sector, and consumers. The article identified ways to improve the economic impacts of deregulation policies in the energy sector. After a systemic review of specialized articles regarding their theoretical approach, results showed a positive relationship between reform and innovation, competitiveness, opening-up of the market, technology, and price changes. Although deregulation measures aimed to reduce the consumers’ electricity cost, the changes in power prices were achievable only in the long-term and not in the short-term. Additionally, government regulators and stakeholders participated in implementing various measures to ensure that deregulation achieved its primary objective of reducing power prices. Such efforts include developing divestiture policies and implementing rate cuts.