Foreign expertise and industrial competitiveness

This research project investigates how immigrant and foreign inventors and multinational innovation teams affect the innovation activity and productivity growth of Finnish companies. Analysis of the necessary combination of business register data and patent data, which allows the persons involved in innovation work to be classified as Finnish or foreign and to be located to work in Finland or abroad. The project generates new information on the importance of international expertise and mobility of experts for the innovation capacity of companies and the renewal and growth of the economy.

In particular, the project examines the following research questions:

1. How do immigrants and inventors working abroad affect the innovation activity and productivity of Finnish companies?
2. Do multinational inventor teams and networks increase the transfer of know-how and the innovation productivity of companies?
3. How do companies’ international cooperation networks affect the accessibility of foreign inventors and, through this, productivity?