This paper examines the embeddedness of multinational software firms located in the
Republic of Ireland. Over the past 15 years, Ireland has emerged as a software
centre of growing importance. Many leading US companies now use Ireland as a
platform from which to service the European market, in turn making Ireland the
world’s leading software exporter. As a result, the extent to which
software multinationals become embedded within Ireland will affect future economic
development. Although subject to several interpretations, the conceptualization of
embeddedness offered in this paper incorporates traditional concerns with local
linkages between multinational corporations and host regions as well as issues of
growing interest such as affiliate evolution and expansion. In addition, it
considers the wider business environment’s influence on firm embeddedness.
The findings are based on published data and corporate and government interviews
conducted during field research in Ireland. The paper finds that over time software
multinationals are becoming somewhat more embedded within Ireland, but several
issues related to the negative externalities of Dublin’s rapid growth
potentially hinder future development.
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