Isabel Álvarez

• Professor
• Complutense University of Madrid

La evolución de la IDE ha ido conformando una geografía de las empresas multinacionales con nuevos inversores, entre los que se encuentran multinacionales de países menos desarrollados (emergentes) y multinacionales de propiedad estatal y fondos soberanos. Se ha ido construyendo así una estructura institucional de gobernanza global que se asimila a...

El presente monográfico de ICE, denominado «Multinacionales en uncam-biante contexto internacional», consta de diez artículos que, con contenido actual y diverso, recorren diferentes problemas de la internacionalización empresarial desde distintas perspectivas y de manera complementaria al cuerpo doctrinal existente.

This chapter contains an updated analysis of the international collaboration in Science and Technology in Spain. This is part of the Second Spanish Report on Science and Technology in Spain.

The research paper prepared by external experts (Part II) presents a detailed analysis of trade in goods and services and foreign direct investments. The paper also evaluates, in detail, the implementation of the trade and sustainable development chapter of the trade agreement in both Colombia and Peru. Finally, the paper provides recommendations f...

A process of dialogue often precedes the design of science, technology, and innovation (STI) policies. The scope of the process and the variety of targets and actors involved are key factors helpful in the characterization of dialogues. This paper explores specificity and pervasiveness as distinguishing analytical attributes of dialogues in the fie...

This paper investigates the impact of gender diversity on the innovative performance of Caribbean firms, specifically analyzing women’s representation across three organizational areas: the overall workforce, management, and skilled production and non-production roles. The study used data from the Innovation, Firm Productivity, and Gender (IFPG) da...

Este artículo revisa algunos de los retos de la igualdad entre mujeres y hombres en la economía española, atendiendo al proceso de digitalización y las tareas pendientes para cerrar la brecha de género. Si bien ha habido notables avances en el empoderamiento femenino en España respecto a la media europea, y las diferencias en el mercado de trabajo...

Abstract: A cascade of crises materialized in particular over the 2019-2022 period. It increased the relevance for IB scholarship to address the following question: whether, to what extent and under what circumstances can Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) rescue the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and make sure that nobody is left behind in a g...

There has been a growing interest in open innovation strategy as a mechanism to face obstacles in innovative projects in the last three decades. These studies reveal that companies perceiving knowledge and skill shortages prioritise collaboration with universities and public research institutions rather than with other partners. However, most studi...

Two key issues within the debate around ‘technological sovereignty’ in the European Union are (i) access by countries and firms to enabling and emerging technologies and (ii) how strategic dependencies can be managed in order to preserve competitive positions in global value chains. In this paper, we present and discuss a multidimensional synthetic...

Purpose-This paper explains the mechanisms underlying the generation of two-way knowledge spillovers through the interaction of subsidiaries with differentiated local responsibilities and domestic firms. Design/methodology/approach-The study is based on firm-level panel data from a census of Colombian manufacturing firms for the period 2003-2012....

Purpose Recent years have seen increased participation by women in Science and Technology activities, but parity with men remains a distant goal. This paper provides a framework for improving knowledge on the dynamics of women’s contributions to innovation, as measured through their contributions as inventors. Design/methodology/approach Analysis...

La digitalización, o transformación digital, implica un conjunto de cambios en el estado y el uso de la tecnología que tiene un carácter disruptivo. La aplicación masiva de tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones (TIC) impacta en el sistema productivo y también en los servicios financieros, de educación y salud, así como en las relacione...

Universities are relevant actors in research and development (R&D) and, increasingly, in innovation. These institutions play a significant role in the generation and transfer of scientific and technical knowledge. They may also adopt an orchestration role, in order to combine diverse national and international sources of knowledge through collabora...

As parts of a global network, foreign-owned subsidiaries enjoy privileged access to knowledge sources both internal (within their multinational group) and external (involving other organizations in the host location), and this has proven especially relevant in their assumption of greater creative responsibilities that increase the technological cap...

The disruptions and supply problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the European Union (EU) have raised several issues concerning the EU’s participation in Global Value Chains (GVC). One of the most discussed points in the current debate is the need to increase economic and productive resilience. This paper describes the participation of the EU...

El objetivo de este trabajo es estudiar el efecto de la diversidad de género en I+D en las empresas españolas sobre la decisión de colaborar con otros agentes para la innovación. Los resultados confirman que siendo significativa la presencia relativa de mujeres en los equipos de I+D, el impacto es notablemente más elevado en la probabilidad de coop...

La necesidad de construir puentes entre la ciencia, la sociedad y la empresa es un leitmotiv presente en la mayoría de discursos y propuestas de asociaciones científicas, poderes públicos y actores empresariales a la hora de fijar el objetivo de crear un entorno innovador y competitivo en la economía. Sin embargo, España no tiene una economía que s...

Este trabajo explora si la adopción de las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones (TIC) y, en particular, el comercio electrónico, tienen un efecto directo en la extensión y configuración de las redes de producción global, atendiendo a las decisiones de internacionalización e internalización de las empresas manufactureras españolas. Par...

ENG: This article explores challenges and opportunities for science, technology and innovation (STI) policy in Ibero-America related to the COVID-19 pandemic, claiming a new multidirectional approach that combines two key dimensions: (i) transversality, for national innovation systems (NIS) integration with other subsystems; and (ii) coordination o...

Este artículo describe cuál es la posición europea en las cadenas globales de valor, así como los flujos comerciales de productos relacionados con el COVID-19 y la posibilidad de desarrollar una mayor autonomía estratégica especialmente en el ámbito sanitario y tecnológico. Entre las diversas opciones de política industrial y comercial cabe adverti...

Este artículo analiza la internacionalización de las universidades españolas, a través de su participación en programas de investigación internacionales y, en particular, de la colaboración internacional en proyectos financiados por el programa europeo Horizonte 2020 (H2020). El estudio de los casos de las universidades españolas más internacionali...

El proceso de internacionalización de la empresa vía inversión directa extranjera (IDE) obedece a una decisión individual y, como tal, ha sido generalmente analizada desde una perspectiva microeconómica que justifica la emergencia de empresas multinacionales (EMN) en la existencia de determinadas ventajas de propiedad. Los condicionantes de país, p...

El libro “La Agenda 2030 y el desarrollo en Iberoamérica” recoge las principales contribuciones al seminario internacional que la Fundación Carolina organizó en 2019, con el patrocinio de la Fundación ICO y la colaboración del Centro de Desarrollo de la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económico (OCDE), la CEPAL, la Secretaría Gener...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the characteristics of knowledge creation in a key technology field, i.e. information and communication technology (ICT), to determine whether it is driven by domestic firms and inventors, or whether the traction is provided by international connections to global innovation networks. The authors argue...

Prior evidence confirms the existence of a close relationship between home-country characteristics and knowledge-related arguments in the explanation of M&A outflows. This contribution bridges the gap between national systems of innovation (NSIs) and emerging multinationals (EMNE) literature for operationalising a bilateral learning process resulti...

Dialogues are dynamic processes of interaction based on directed communication and participation, designed to facilitate concertation and consensus dynamics that, from an instrumental point of view, allow diverse objectives of social action to be achieved. These objectives can range from mediation to Conflict resolution until the construction of pu...

These days, innovation increasingly requires a combination of internal and external sources of knowledge. The relative importance of each may differ, according to the characteristics of the production networks in which firms are involved, and according to the local context. This paper contributes to explaining the relative importance of the various...

El avance del conocimiento científico, la tecnología y la innovación constituyen un objetivo de carácter transversal para el desarrollo sostenible en el marco de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) de la Agenda 2030. La evidencia para América Latina demuestra que la falta de vinculaciones entre la investigación que realizan las institucion...

El avance del conocimiento científico, la tecnología y la innovación constituyen un objetivo de carácter transversal para el desarrollo sostenible en el marco de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) de la Agenda 2030. La evidencia para América Latina demuestra que la falta de vinculaciones entre la in- vestigación que realizan las instituci...

La evolución de la IDE ha ido conformando una geografía de las empresas multinacionales con nuevos inversores, entre los que se encuentran multinacionales de países menos desarrollados (emergentes) y multinacionales de propiedad estatal y fondos soberanos. Se ha ido construyendo así una estructura institucional de gobernanza global que se asimila a...

This paper analyzes the innovation performance of foreign subsidiaries compared to domestic owned firms using a firm level dataset of Colombian manufacturing firms. The results show that foreign subsidiaries are superior in knowledge production over domestic firms and this superiority is because they make a more intensive use of internal and extern...

This article has been corrected to address an error in the references of the article. The correct authors in reference two are Alvarez, I., Barleta, F., Suarez, D. and Yoguel, G.

Con el correr de los años la comunidad de investigadores que estudia el comportamiento de los sistemas innovativos nacionales de Ibero-américa ha ido adquiriendo solidez y comprensión de los aspectos dinámicos, no solo económicos sino también políticos e institucionales, así como sobre la interdependencia sistémica entre los diversos actores que in...

El análisis de la heterogeneidad de los procesos de diálogo en Iberoamérica requiere de instrumentos que codifiquen la información de forma estructurada y útil; es por ello que se ha desarrollado una herramienta que permite codificar los diferentes casos de los países de la "Red Temática para mejorar los procesos de diálogo entre las comunidades in...

The configuration of host national systems of innovation and the technological international networks established by multinational enterprises (MNE) can become key aspects for the internationalisation decision that may also concern knowledge related activities such as R&D. Through the combination of a theoretical model and empirical analysis, this...

The effect of natural resources (NR) on growth has been a topic widely discussed in the economics literature. The evidence shows a predominant negative impact of this, but this can be neutralized if countries adopt a more knowledge-intensive industrial structure. This paper seeks to explore the key factors for growth in natural resource-driven coun...

The configuration of host national systems of innovation and the technological international networks established by multinational enterprises (MNE) can become key aspects for the internationalisation decision that may also concern knowledge related activities such as R&D. Through the combination of a theoretical model and empirical analysis, this...

This paper illustrates how wholly owned entry modes of multinational companies (MNCs) are jointly determined by both the strategic objectives of the MNC and the local firms' assets in the creation of value. In particular, the entry mode chosen is based on the potential reciprocal technological spillovers between local firms and MNC subsidiaries. M&...

La Red PyMEs Mercosur nuclea a investigadores y profesionales que, desde 1996, propician la generación y vinculación permanente entre el conocimiento y la práctica concreta en el ámbito de la pequeña y mediana empresa. La Reunión Anual es la principal actividad académica de la Red PyMES Mercosur y cada año, se desarrollan conferencias con expositor...

We study an endogenous stochastic growth model whose dynamic evolution is determined by an adaptive learning process defining the accumulation of technological knowledge within countries. Both the assimilation of technological knowledge and the arrival rate of innovations depend on the technological development level of countries. We illustrate how...

Technology creation and absorption are two relevant processes that affect the role that multinational enterprises (MNE) may play in the competitiveness improvement of the developing economies. The importance of internal factors in local contexts, the increasing integration in the industrial international value chain and the access of firms from the...

The Southern Common Market (mercosur), widely recognized as one of the most advanced regional integration schemes worldwide, is increasingly attractive to multinational enterprises and also very active in outward investments, despite persistent innovation and competitiveness gaps. In this paper we analyse internationalization and technology trends...

The Southern Common Market (mercosur), widely recognized as one of the most advanced regional integration schemes worldwide, is increasingly attractive to multinational enterprises and also very active in outward investments, despite persistent innovation and competitiveness gaps. In this paper we analyse internationalization and technology trends...

Agradecimientos: los autores agradecen el apoyo financiero recibido al amparo del proyecto del plan nacional de I+D ECO 2010-16609 del Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. The internationalization process of firms through foreign direct investment (FDI) responds to an individual decision, and for that reason much of the analysis on this has bee...

In this paper, we develop a general framework that integrates diverse driving mechanisms of subsidiaries evolving towards competence creating mandates. The relevant process is the mutual relationship between innovation scope and the internationalization of the market as the primary channel for learning in subsidiaries, and how the opportunity for u...

Most of the literature related to foreign direct investment in developing countries focuses on the incentives of local producers to incur in the technological development costs required to act as suppliers of multinational companies (MNC). Scarce attention has been paid to the strategic interactions derived from the potential (reciprocal) technolog...

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) have contributed to the productive and technological upgrading of many host economies, whereas discussion about entry modes and developmental effects is far from being concluded. We explore the relative importance of national systems of innovation in various forms of firm internationalization. We hypothesize that, a...

The evolution of the world economy in the last decades has defined a more integrated framework with a notable resurgence of investment flows; liberalization and innovation trends are the main factors shaping it. The result has been an increasing competition amongst market participants and a higher diversity of attractiveness, leading also to the en...

Research on foreign direct investment has focused on developed countries while the relation- ship with development has been dominated by a generalised view. Following a dynamic approach, we hypothesize that R&D capabilities and the stability of national systems of innovation become key driver mechanisms to improve and diversify the new entries. The...

This article explores whether mergers and acquisitions (M&As) generate differentiated impacts on the acquiring firms’ R&D expenditures, patents granted, and product innovations. Considering M&As as a way of foreign expansion, we examine whether the technological effects differ between domestic and foreign-owned acquirers, assuming that the effects...

Two main forces characterise production systems today: on the one hand, the increasingly global nature of markets and economies has resulted in increasing competition and a new, more global division of labour. On the other, the greater complexity of technology makes innovation a key aspect in the competitiveness of manufacturing firms. The establis...

Las empresas multinacionales realizan actividades de generación de conocimiento, tales como las de I+D, en el extranjero y no solo en sus países de origen. Este hecho tiene implicaciones diversas en los sistemas de innovación, lo que se revela en un doble sentido: por un lado, las actividades de I+D de las empresas extranjeras pueden contribuir a l...

Some economies inside the diverse group of middle-income countries (MIC) have shown an active behavior in exports of technology-intensive goods that is strictly better than the group average. Among the factors explaining such a behavior we find the national technological capabilities that affect the dynamism of their productive and trade structure...

Resumen: En el diverso grupo de países de renta media (PRM) se integra un conjunto de economías con un comportamiento exportador de bienes intensivos en tecnología que sobresale respecto al promedio del grupo. Una de las explicaciones de ese resultado estaría en la diferencia de capacidades tecnológicas nacionales, entendiendo éstas como un factor...

The use and diffusion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can be seen as a mechanism for reducing the global divide. Two aspects are crucial: Counting on accurate time-series data and the definition of the components defining ICT indicators. We carry out a multiple imputation technique to estimate missing ICT data using the Expectat...

It is generally agreed that foreign direct investment (FDI) flows can contribute to the local upgrading of host economies, whereas the diverse technological strategies of multinational companies (MNCs) can determine the existence and size of spillover effects. When considering FDI entry modes, merger and acquisitions (M&As) reveal a higher level of...

This article presents a model of macroeconomic growth that combines in a single formalization two complementary views on innovation and economic growth, the technology-gap approach and the Kaldorian theory of cumulative causation. The model suggests that what matters for economic growth in the long run is the existence of a good match between the p...

La internacionalización de mercados, de actividades económicas y la creciente competencia global son algunos de los factores que caracterizan los sistemas productivos actuales. A ello se suma una intensa complejidad tecnológica que afecta tanto a productos como a procesos productivos, concediéndole a la innovación un papel clave en la competitivida...

The increasing role of M&As as a way of internationalisation have motivated a special interest about their causes and consequences in the economics literature. Although technology is a key factor in the decision to become involved in cross-border M&As, there is still hardly conclusive evidence regarding the effects of these transactions in the comp...

Technology is among firms ownership advantages explaining their internationalisation as, now for decades, the eclectic approach has highlighted. The debate about the positive versus negative effects that foreign capital generates in the host economy has gained a new relevance today insofar as, on the one hand, the concept of systems of innovation a...

This paper analyses the main changes occurred in the productive structure of Spanish manufacturing industry in the last years, by relating them to variations in economic results observed therein and their realtionships. The analysis was carried out to three figures on the NACE and registers variables relative to the economic structure and performan...

The consolidation of industrial development in Spain started at the beginning of the 50´s. The importance of agriculture in those years was 13% of GDP and industry 17%. From that time to the present, industry grew by as much as 25%, at over two percent of the whole economy, so the contribution to the economy growth rate has been very high. This gro...

Two main forces coincide nowadays in the characterisation of productive systems. On the one hand, the internationalisation of markets and economic activities has resulted in an increasing competition worldwide and a new and more global division of labour. On the other, the greater complexity of technology makes innovation a key factor in manufactur...

La política europea en materia de investigación, desarrollo tecnológico e innovación está comprometida con el objetivo de lograr que la UE llegue a realizar un esfuerzo en I+D de 3 por 100 del PIB a lo largo de la presente década. El proyecto de construcción del Espacio Europeo de Investigación es entendido como fundamental si se pretende alcanzar...

La creciente internacionalización de la actividad económica y tecnológica hace especialmente interesante el estudio del papel que juegan las empresas multinacionales (EMNs) en ese proceso, pudiéndose subrayar qué características específicas tiene la innovación tecnológica en tales organizaciones. El análisis de las tendencias que se describen en el...

Tesis doctoral inédita. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Departamento de Estructura Económica y Economía del Desarrollo. Fecha de lectura: 22-07-03 Bibliogr.: p. 201-219

Over the last two decades, a great number of studies have focused on the explanation of trade performance based on technological factors, including various studies on technology gaps. The aim of the present paper is to extend this empirical approach to include some additional factors including the role of policies, considered here as part of the ex...

Recent trends in the internationalisation of the firm reveal how Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) have achieved, without any doubt, one of the most crucial roles among FDI operations, having shown a spectacular growth in the last decade. The technological component is observed as a critical aspect for the decision on internationalisation via M&As. H...

La política europea en materia de investigación, desarrollo tecnológico e innovación está comprometida con el objetivo de lograr que la UE llegue a realizar un esfuerzo en I+D de 3% del PIB a lo largo de la presente década. El proyecto de construcción del Espacio Europeo de Investigación es entendido como fundamental si se pretende alcanzar una din...

La interrelación entre las empresas multinacionales (EMN) y los sistemas nacionales de innovación (SNI) huéspedes se erige como un tema de notable actualidad en la investigación económica, abordándose aspectos relacionados con las estrategias cambiantes de las empresas internacionalizadas, la colaboración internacional en investigación, y las carac...

La idea de partida en este trabajo es que las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones (TIC), particularmente su uso y difusión, pueden resultar ser un mecanismo que contribuya a la disminución de la desigualdad existente entre países ricos y pobres en la era digital. Nuestra principal aportación está relacionada con la importancia que ti...

Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows have contributed to the productive and technological upgrading of many host economies, whereas the discussion about the entry modes of multinational companies (MNC) and developmental effects is far from being concluded. Our aim is to exam the relative importance of host country differences in the understanding...