The Multinational World: how cities and regions win or lose in the global innovation contest [Audio]

Speaker(s): Professor Riccardo Crescenzi, Martin Sandbu | The process of technological development constantly opens windows of opportunity for new innovation centres to emerge around the world. What makes it possible for some cities and regions to join the exclusive ‘world innovation club’? Why are other places persistently excluded or lose their membership? Scholarly and policy debates attempt to identify factors at the national, regional or city level to ‘ignite’ innovation and boost productivity and employment in stagnating areas of the world. Our understanding is more limited of the transformative power of the flows of capital, skills and knowledge bundled into increasingly complex value chains, often controlled by multinational firms. This inaugural lecture by Riccardo Crescenzi will discuss the conceptual foundations and new empirical evidence from across the globe on the link between internationalisation, multinational firms’ strategies and local innovation and prosperity. The l