Title: Global supply chains and intangible assets in the automotive and aeronautical industries

Authors: Claude Serfati; Catherine Sauviat

Addresses: Institut de recherches économiques et sociales (IRES), 16 Boulevard du Mont d'Est, 93160 Noisy-le-Grand, France; CEMOTEV, University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France ' Institut de recherches économiques et sociales (IRES), 16 Boulevard du Mont d'Est, 93160 Noisy-le-Grand, France

Abstract: The relocating of transnational corporations (TNCs) high-generating value activities at the upper (design, development, branding and intellectual property) and lower (marketing, maintenance and post-sales services) ends of their global supply chains (GSCs) and the amazing rise of intangible assets (IA) in their stock value operate in interaction. The paper documents the deep transformations in major French automotive and aeronautical TNCs strategies in particular in the management of their R&D in relation with the appeal of IA for financial investors. It thus highlights a further dimension of the relation between finance and production to the ones more commonly addressed by the literature on financialisation.

Keywords: transnational corporations; TNCs; global supply chains; GSCs; intangible assets; R&D; financialisation; automotive industry; aeronautical industry; relational power.

DOI: 10.1504/IJATM.2019.100920

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, 2019 Vol.19 No.3/4, pp.183 - 205

Received: 11 Oct 2018
Accepted: 19 Jan 2019
Published online: 19 Jul 2019 *

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