Global solutions for global problems: Intergovernmental organizations and firm innovation

Globally coordinated solutions are critical for resolving the grand challenges of our times but are difficult to achieve as differences in national characteristics condition local solutions. We examine the role played by intergovernmental organizations (IGO) in resolving the global coordination challenge faced by firms conducting foreign R&D. IGOs create commonality across participant countries‘ institutional contexts through sponsored events and activities. Consequently, firms with geographically dispersed R&D units in IGO connected countries have greater opportunities to enable coordination and generate synergies in global innovation efforts. We find that firm external collaborative capability positively moderates this relationship by allowing firms to capitalize on IGO enabled opportunities.