From ownership linkages to world economic networks

Cities in the globalization of firms in 2019. Published in Rozenblat, C. (2021). Intracity and intercity networks of multinational firms, 2010-2019. In Handbook of cities and networks (pp. 511-556). Edward Elgar Publishing.

ORBIS Database

  • ORBIS database from Bureau van Dijk (BvD; 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2022) focuses on corporate long term investment relations based on parent–subsidiary ownership links in every economic sector.
  • Linkages between cities are built directly according to the ownership linkages between the owner and the subsidiary firms located in different cities.
  • Cities are considered as nodes in networks constituted by oriented links of the relations between headquarters and subsidiaries, forming global groups of firms that are mostly totally interconnected.
  • It is distinct from the interlocking world city network model and the interorganizational project approach, which focus on advanced producer services (APSs) and banks, respectively, and use a bipartite networks approach.