How firm capabilities affect who benefits from foreign technology

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Blalock, Garrick; Gertler, Paul J.
• 署名单位: Cornell University; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2008.11.011
• 发表日期: 2009
• 页码: 192-199
• 关键词: technology transfer; Foreign direct investment; Firm capabilities

摘要

We explore how firm capabilities affect the diffusion of technology brought with foreign direct investment (FDI). Using a panel dataset on Indonesian manufacturers from 1988 to 1996, we measure how the productivity of differing domestic firms responds to the entry of multinational competitors. We find that firms with investments in research and development and firms with highly educated employees adopt more technology from foreign entrants than others. In contrast, firms that have a small technology gap, meaning that they are close to the international best-practice frontier, benefit less than firms with weak prior technical competency. This finding suggests that the marginal return to new knowledge is greater for firms that have more room to catch up than it is for already competitive firms. (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V.