Transnational Corporations as the Driving Forces Behind the World’s Research and Development Activity in Terms of R&D Expenditure

As discussed in the literature, more and more transnational corporations (TNCs) were attaching importance to research and development (R&D) activity from the 1970s through the 2000s. This growing involvement of TNCs in R&D resulted in their dominant role in global R&D expenditure. Indeed, a comparative analysis of financial data collected for the group of the 102 largest corporate R&D spenders worldwide in 2007 showed that this group of TNCs accounted for a significant share of the world’s R&D expenditure not only in 2007 alone but also in the period of 2000–2011. Moreover, a similarity between their home countries and the countries being top R&D spenders was found; however, most of these corporations were conducting their R&D at international level. Furthermore, the analysed TNCs operated mostly in technology-intensive industries, for which the foundations were provided by a multidisciplinary science and technology basis. JEL Codes: F23, O32