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2004; Giuliani et al. 2005; Iammarino and McCann 2006; Morrison
2008; Belussi and Sammarra 2010) and regional innovation systems (e.g.,
Cooke et al. 1998; Cooke 2001; Asheim and Isaksen 2002; Cantwell and
Iammarino 2003; Cantwell and Piscitello 2005; Doloreux and Parto 2005;
Iammarino 2005; von Tunzelmann 2009a, b).
In the cluster literature global firms can assume a critical role in bridg-
ing capabilities at both the micro and the spatial system level. As we have
seen in Chapter 4, MNEs can act as gatekeepers that import knowledge
that may (or may not) diffuse to other co-located firms, depending on the
regional absorptive capacity and on the complementarity between the
knowledge inflows and the local knowledge base. As discussed in Section
5.2 above, the related variety brought into the region through extra-
regional channels may enhance diversification into new applications and
new sectors. At the same time, this increased related variety may allow
for more extending of the local knowledge base, thus helping to produce
the type of diversity which is conducive to growth and eventually to the
evolution of new spatial structures. In addition, as already emphasized
in Chapter 2, there is now evidence of increasing spatial agglomeration
at the functional level, and this is particularly visible in service industries
which are far more affected by functional rather than by sectoral features
(Defever 2006). This may provide an additional angle to look in dynamic
terms at the taxonomical exercise provided above. For example, although
it has so far only been examined at the national level in the context of the
enlarged EU, the co-location of the different stages of the value chain of
MNE affiliates shows that, rather unexpectedly, MNE headquarters do
not display any pull effect on the location of any other MNE function
(Defever 2006). This observation casts further doubt on the identification
of knowledge spillovers on the basis of general location choices of MNEs.
5.6
TOWARDS THE EVOLUTION OF MNE AND
SPATIAL TYPES
Clusters and regional systems are not necessarily static in that they may
evolve over time. This evolution often involves the blending of the various
features of the different knowledge-technology-cluster typologies into new
and different combinations, and possibly also involves shifting from one
dominant type to another, according to the relative stage in their life cycle.
As we have already argued, in order to relate the issue of the local economic
geography to the location behaviour of the MNE, what is important is to
identify firstly which of these idealized spatial types best approximates the
dominant characteristics of the locality being considered, and secondly
