Course Overview

Learning Achievement

Competence

Course prerequisites

Grading Philosophy

“Contrôle continu”: 

- 45-minute intermediate test on part I of the course during classes
(see calendar below)  - 45-minute intermediate test on part II of
the course during end-of-semester exam session  - RATTRAPAGE:
90-minute test on both parts I and II 

Course schedule

The course is divided in two parts:

I. The first part is dedicated to localization theory and evidence. A
first set of theories comes from Paul Krugman’s seminal
contributions to the New Economic Geography (NEG) and provides an
explanation of spatial clustering of economic activities based on
familiar economic concepts, without any reference to innovation. A
second set of theories, joint with related evidence, comes from
several empirical contributions to the economics of innovation and
stresses the role of innovation as an agglomeration. 

II. The second part of the course is dedicated to Multinational
Enterprises (MNEs) and their Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs).
Besides providing a definition and classification of MNEs, as well as
a theory of their determinants and nature of FDIs, we will discuss
their relationship with and impact on industrial agglomerations.

Course type

Online Course Requirement

Instructor

Other information

All PowerPoint slides are in English and will be made available on the
Moodle e-learning site, well in advance the lectures. Students are
received by appointment, either in person or via Skype.

READINGS 

PART I - LOCALIZATION 

1 - Economic Geography /1: Core-Periphery Models 

- Krugman, P. R. (1990). Geography and trade. MIT press (ch.1 and
Appendix A )

- 4 copies à la Bibliothèque du GREThA ; 1 copie à la
Bibliothèque du DSPEG 

2 - Economic Geography /2: Marshallian Districts 

- Krugman, P. R. (1990). Geography and trade. MIT press (ch.2 and
Appendix C) 

3 - Localized knowledge flows 

- Jaffe, A. B., Trajtenberg, M., & Henderson, R. (1993). Geographic
localization of knowledge spillovers as evidenced by patent citations.
Quarterly journal of Economics, 108(3), 577-598. (skip section
III.)(http://www.tau.ac.il/~manuel/pdfs/geographic%20localization.pdf) 
- Breschi, S., & Lissoni, F. (2009). Mobility of skilled workers and
co-invention networks: an anatomy of localized knowledge flows.
Journal of Economic Geography, 9(4), 439-468
(http://dimetic.dime-eu.org/dimetic_files/Breschi-Lissoni%20JoEG%20PUBLISHED%201.pdf) 
- Krugman, P. (2011). The new economic geography, now middle-aged.
Regional Studies, 45(1), 1-7.
(http://www.princeton.edu/~pkrugman/aag.pdf) 

4 - Cities, diversity, and diversification 

- Duranton, G., & Puga, D. (2000). Diversity and specialisation in
cities: why, where and when does it matter? Urban studies, 37(3),
533-55 (only sections 1, 2 and
6)(http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/20212/1/Diversity_and_Specialisation_in_Cities_Why,_Where_and_When_does_it_Matter.pdf) 
- Choose one of the two: 

- Frenken, K., Van Oort, F., & Verburg, T. (2007). Related variety,
unrelated variety and regional economic growth. Regional studies,
41(5), 685-697.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00343400601120296?casa_token=cs0an8paJlkAAAAA:r4yAAd7kdYzwMiNNyX8zwPaFSH34BOgzNwkL4oRK90OZXnn7IOQpobzSg5xfjXBh6xCshNtz4H5 
- Neffke, F., Henning, M. and Boschma, R., 2011. How do regions
diversify over time? Industry relatedness and the development of new
growth paths in regions. Economic Geography, 87(3), pp.237-265
(http://dimetic.dime-eu.org/dimetic_files/Neffkeetal2011.pdf) 

PART II - GLOBALIZATION 

5- Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) and Foreign Direct Investments
(FDIs): Definitions 

- DL* chapters 1 and 3 (skip 3.4 and 3.5) 
- IM** chapters 2 (only 2.1 and 2.2) 

6-MN Multinational Enterprises: History and trends 

- DL* chapters 2 (skip 2.5, 2.7, 2.8.2), 6 
- UNCTAD (2019) World Investment Report 2019 - Special Economic
Zones, United Nations Conference on Trade & Development: Geneva 
chapter I, sections A to C 

7 –Theoretical overview 

- DM* chapter 4 (4.2.5 and 4.3.2 only) 
- IM** chapters 2 (2.3, 2.5 only) 

-> Suggested reading order: IM2.3.1-2.3.3 / DM4.2.5 / DM4.3.2 /
IM2.3.4-2.3.5 / IM2.5 

8 – MNEs and innovation 

- UNCTAD (2005) World Investment Report 2005 – Transnational
Corporations and the Internationalization of R&D, United Nations
Conference on Trade & Development: Geneva  chapters 4 (Sections A,
B, C.1, D.2.a andBoxes from IV.3 to IV.7) and 5 (Section C only) 
- McCann, P. and Mudambi, R., 2007. MNEs’ location behaviour and
industrial clustering. Do multinationals feed local development and
growth, pp.63-94.2o Available on the e-learning platform 
- Branstetter L.G., Glennon B., Jensen J (2019) The Rise of Global
Innovation by US Multinationals Poses Risks and Opportunities,
Peterson Institute for International Economics
(https://www.piie.com/system/files/documents/pb19-9.pdf) 

9–Migration and FDIs 

- Hernandez, E., 2014. Finding a home away from home: Effects of
immigrants on firms’ foreign location choice and performance.
Administrative Science Quarterly, 59(1), pp.73-108. 
- Useche, D., Miguelez, E. and Lissoni, F., 2019. Highly skilled and
well connected: Migrant inventors in crossborder M&As. Journal of
International Business Studies, pp.1-27. 

- BOTH available on the e-learning platform 

* DL: Dunning, J.H. and Lundan, S.M., 2008. Multinational enterprises
and the global economy. Edward Elgar Publishing (2nd edition) 

-2 copies à la Bibliothèque du DSPEG (332.042 DUN), of which 1 copy
reserved for consultation only (no lending) 

** IM: Iammarino, S. and McCann, P., 2013. Multinationals and economic
geography: Location, technology and innovation. Edward Elgar
Publishing 

-Soon available à la Bibliothèque du DSPEG 



Language of instruction: English

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