The aim of this book is to contribute to a better understanding of those intermediate countries with specific reference to two relevant international areas; those countries of southern Europe whose dynamic is very much influenced by the phases of European construction, and in countries of Latin America where the opening up process has changed the traditional role played by multinational corporations.

This book examines those countries of Southern Europe influenced by the phases of European construction and countries of Latin America where the opening up process has changed the traditional role played by multinational corporations.

Due to the emergence of innovative technologies, various professional fields are transforming their traditional business practices. Specifically, the financial and legal markets are experiencing this digital transformation as professionals and researchers are finding ways to improve efficiency, personalization, and security in these economic sectors. Significant research is needed to keep pace with the continuous advancements that are taking place in finance. Fostering Innovation and Competitiveness with FinTech, RegTech, and SupTech provides emerging research exploring the theoretical and practical aspects of technologically innovative mechanisms and applications within the financial, economic, and legal markets. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as crowdfunding platforms, crypto-assets, and blockchain technology, this book is ideally designed for researchers, economists, practitioners, policymakers, analysts, managers, executives, educators, and students seeking current research on the strategic role of technology in the future development of financial and economic activity.

This book explores how companies combine technological innovation and competitive actions that create new opportunities for business growth in the international market. The complexity of designing today’s technology platforms requires profound knowledge in multiple areas. Technology development and commercialization as an ongoing competitive process involves enabling and inhibiting mechanisms, which govern the speed and acceleration of technological innovation. To compete more effectively, potential competitors are using coopetition and pooling their resources for shared gain in areas where they do not compete directly. Thus, a thorough examination of the current paradigms, theories, and frameworks is needed to increase our understanding of the technology-innovation-competitiveness linkages of business growth. This book brings together recent developments and methodological contributions within technological innovation, international competitiveness, and business growth that bridge the existing gaps and simultaneously advances the debate on this research topic.

An analysis of the impact of inward investment on the competitiveness of indigenous firms, Multinational Enterprises and Technological Spillovers draws on evidence from the UK and Italian manufacturing sectors to show how foreign presence may generate both virtuous and vicious circles of development according to a number of interrelated factors. These include the level of the foreign presence, its rate of increase, the technological disparities between foreign and indigenous firms and the political response. An examination of the productive and innovatory activities of US and Japanese firms in Europe is also provided to enlighten the differential role of European countries in the global operations of overseas multinationals.

In globalising economies, particularly those going through a process of economic integration such as those economies within the EU, regions forge an increasing number of linkages with other locations within and across national borders. This is largely carried out by the technological efforts of Multinational Corporations (MNCs). This book explores the regional dimension of Europe in terms of localised technological comparative advantages and the location of innovative activities by MNCs. Using an empirical analysis John Cantwell and Simona Iammarino cover such important themes as: *MNC technological activities and economic wealth *MNCs and the regional systems of innovation in Italy, UK, Germany and France *the geographical hierarchy across European national borders.

This book explores the links between the options of world-wide globalisation and European integration which are open to today's corporations, highlighting whether there are conflicts or complementaries between them.