The Impact of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) on Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS) Start-ups: Empirical Evidence from the Dutch Randstad

Abstract

Jacobs W., van Rietbergen T., Atzema O., van Grunsven L. and van Dongen F. The impact of multinational enterprises (MNEs) on knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) start-ups: empirical evidence from the Dutch Randstad, Regional Studies. This paper focuses on the impact of multinational enterprises (MNEs) on the level of entrepreneurship in knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) in metropolitan regions. Large globalizing metropolitan regions or 'world cities' are generally considered prime office locations for MNEs and KIBS alike. Certain locations in these metropolitan regions or world cities provide multifarious benefits of being co-agglomerated. Yet the impact of local MNEs, whether domestic or foreign, on successful local entrepreneurship in related KIBS has hardly been conceptually or empirically addressed in the literature. This paper presents evidence from the Dutch Randstad based on a questionnaire given to 2,000 KIBS firms founded in 2001-08 and supported by interviews with major international KIBS. The main conclusion is that MNEs in KIBS firms spawn successful entrepreneurship in KIBS. Implications for regional development policy are also addressed.