Main drivers for local and global R&D sourcing of European Multinational Enterprises

Based on an original and recent representative sample of 130 large EU-based R&D corporations, this paper empirically investigates the main factors explaining the favourite (national or international) location choice for R&D activities. The main findings suggest that public support to R&D and proximity to other activities of the company influence the decision to locate R&D in the home country. Considerations on the cost of employing researchers become one factor among others only for firms preferring a location outside their home country, in particular in the rest of the world (countries other than the EU or the US).