International R&D Spillovers,Absorptive Capacity and Relative Backwardness: A Panel Smooth Transition Regression Model

We investigate how a country's absorptive capacity and relative backwardness affect the impact of international R&D spillovers on domestic Total Factor Productivity (TFP). To account for nonlinearities, we adopt a Panel Smooth Transition Regression approach, where a country's TFP elasticity to the foreign R&D stock is allowed to change smoothly across various identified extreme values, and the change is related to observable transition variables: human capital (capturing the country's absorptive capacity) and relative backwardness. The results suggest that absorptive capacity is positively associated with international R&D spillovers. In contrast with previous results, relative backwardness is instead found to have a negative and significant impact on international knowledge spillovers.     

我国外贸技术溢出效应的国别差异分析

技术溢出是发展中国家追赶发达国家的重要路径,溢出的渠道包括国际贸易、FDI、R＆D合作、国外R＆D投资等。我们运用经拓展后的Coe＆Helpman的贸易溢出计量模型,试图将我国从商品贸易以及FDI中所获得的技术溢出纳入同一模型中加以综合分析,并对贸易带来的技术溢出效应进行国别差异分析,以判断不同类型国家对我国吸收技术溢出效应的影响。并在此基础上,提出了相应的政策建议。     

Knowledge spillovers through FDI and trade: the moderating role of quality-adjusted human capital

The paper extends the findings of the Coe and Helpman (Eur Econ Rev 39(5):859-887, 1995) model of R&D spillovers by considering foreign direct investment (FDI) as a channel for knowledge spillovers in addition to imports. Deeper insights on the issue are provided by examining the inter-relationship between knowledge spillovers from imports and inward FDI. Furthermore, human capital is added to the discussion as one of the appropriability factors for knowledge spillovers, with special focus on its quality-content, using journal publications and patent applications. Applying cointegration estimation method on 20 European countries from 1995 to 2010, the direct effects of FDI-related as well as import-related spillovers on domestic productivity are confirmed. Furthermore, a strong complementary relationship is found between knowledge spillovers through the channels of imports and inward FDI. When considering quality-adjusted human capital, countries with better human capital are found to benefit not only from direct productivity effects, but also from absorption and transmission of international knowledge spillovers through imports and inward FDI. Finally, technological distance with the frontier does not appear to play a role in the absorption of import and FDI related knowledge spillovers.     

An empirical note on international R&D spillovers

Whether international R&D spillovers are global and trade-related is still a debated issue. By adopting two specifications that nest models previously estimated in the literature, we test the hypothesis that international R&D spillovers are global and trade-unrelated for a sample of OECD countries over the period 1971–2004. In particular, via a randomization exercise, we reject the null hypothesis of a “global pool of technology” and show that there are partitions of countries associated with relatively strong/weak knowledge spillovers. Then, we estimate a nonlinear specification that includes simultaneously geographical distance and international trade among the determinants of domestic TFP. We find robust evidence that both factors affect how foreign knowledge impacts on the domestic productivity of each recipient country.     

How R&;D investments influence TFP growth: Evidence from China’s large and medium-sized industrial enterprises

This paper investigates the potential channels through which R&D may influence TFP growth using industry-level panel data of China’s large and medium-sized industrial enterprises over the period of 2000–2007. Comparing with existing literature, we provide a closer look of the relationship between R&D and TFP growth by decomposing TFP growth into efficiency change and technical change components using Malmquist productivity index and distinguishing between upstream R&D spillovers and downstream R&D spillovers. We find TFP grow slightly during 2000–2007, and R&D investment indeed serves as an engine of productivity growth just as endogenous growth theories argued, which is largely because R&D accelerates technical progress even it also results in enlarging technical inefficiency. However, we find a robust negative effect of downstream R&D spillovers on TFP growth, the effects of upstream is positive but not statistically significant. In addition, we do not find the positive effects of human capital on TFP as endogenous growth theories indicated, but find human capital severs as “assimilation device” for R&D spillovers both in promoting TFP growth and increasing technical efficiency even the effects on technical progress is adverse.     

The pattern of international patenting and technology diffusion

The article focuses on the impact of R&D expenditure on labour productivity using international patent applications as a technology diffusion indicator. Considering the relationship between research and productivity, the pattern of international patenting reflects the channel between the source and the destination of transferred technology. Accounting for nonstationarity and cointegration, I find that patent-related foreign R&D spillovers are present for a panel of 18 OECD countries. Moreover, nonG7 OECD countries benefit more from foreign rather than domestic R&D activities. Estimates also show that there is no significant spillover effect from bilateral trade, but confirm the impact of FDI on domestic labour productivity.     

R&D policy with layers of economic integration

This paper examines whether the optimal unilateral R&D policy for an open economy is a subsidy or a tax. It constructs a general equilibrium model with three successive layers of international integration: (a) trade in goods, (b) trade in technologies with international R&D spillovers and (c) internationally-coordinated R&D policy. Trade in technologies introduces the possibility that an R&D subsidy will have such strong, negative terms-of-trade effects that it harms domestic welfare. Numerical simulations of the OECD show this is a possibility for the US and Japan. With international R&D spillovers a domestic R&D subsidy may reduce domestic innovation.     

Intersectoral and International R&D Knowledge Spillovers and Total Factor Productivity

Disaggregate panel data estimates are presented of equations that relate a set of OECD countries' sectoral total factor productivity to domestic and to foreign R&D capital. The estimates indicate that there are both important international and national R&D knowledge spillovers and that these spillovers are intersectoral and intrasectoral in nature. They show that the influence of domestic R&D is stronger in the large economies and that this is caused by more important domestic intersectoral R&D spillovers. There is also evidence of a greater influence of domestic and of foreign R&D in research intensive industries and of an interaction between the domestic economy scale and the research intensity effects.     

On `indirect' trade-related R&D spillovers

An influential literature argues that trade promotes knowledge flows and technology transmission between trading partners. This literature focuses on `direct' research and development (R&D) spillovers which are related to the levels of R&D produced by the trading partners. In this paper, we argue that `indirect' trade-related R&D spillovers also take place between countries, even if they do not trade with each other. These `indirect' spillovers are associated with available rather than with produced levels of R&D. Our empirical results suggest that these `indirect' trade-related spillovers are at least as important as the `direct' ones, and strengthen the view that trade does matter for the international transmission of R&D. They also suggest that, due to the existence of these `indirect' effects, bilateral trade patterns are relatively less important determinants of the level of foreign R&D spillovers acquired through trade.     

Do R&D activities matter for productivity? A regional spatial approach assessing the role of human and social capital

We estimate the long-run effects of Research and Development (R&D) activities on Total Factor Productivity (TFP) across the Spanish regions during 1980–2007. We use panel data cointegration methods and control for spatial externalities linked to human and social capital. Our empirical results, robust to different specifications and additional control variables, show a significant direct effect of public R&D capital on productivity. No significant results are observed for private R&D capital. In contrast, the effect of patents is highly significant but proves to be small. Furthermore, Spain has greatly benefited from importing technology from leading countries. Spatial spillovers are crucial in explaining long-run productivity for the case of Spain. Human and social capital exert direct positive impacts, however, their effects are geographically bounded and negative spatial spillovers offset direct outcomes. Overall TFP increases when neighbouring territories engage in R&D activities.     

Trade-related R&D Spillovers in Vietnamese Manufacturing

ABSTRACT

This study aims to examine how Vietnamese manufacturing could benefit from R&D investment locally and from OECD countries through trade during a period marked with major trade liberalisations. Using the industry-level data during 2000–2009, it finds that the foreign R&D has accounted for the most part of the R&D spillovers in the sector, with a larger proportion earning from the other foreign industries’ R&D. The domestic industries’ own R&D has improved the sector’s total factor productivity, but in a relatively smaller magnitude compared to the foreign sources. In examining the localised effects of R&D spillovers in Vietnamese manufacturing, the results reiterate the important roles of trade-embedded foreign R&D spillovers from Japan, the US, South Korea, and Germany in the sector’s total factor productivity growth. These findings altogether give support to foreign technology diffusion as a major conduit for growth prospects in Vietnamese manufactures.     

Firms’ productivity growth and R&D spillovers: An analysis of alternative technological proximity measures

This paper aim at assessing the impact of R&D spillovers on firms’ economic performance as measured by productivity growth. The construction of R&D spillovers is based on Jaffe's methodology (1988, 1996) which associates econometrics and data analysis. The main objective of the paper is to extend Jaffe's methodology by examining alternative methods for measuring R&D spillovers and to test their impacts in terms of the robustness of results. In particular, the method used to classify firms into technological clusters as well as the metrics implemented to appreciate firms’ technological proximities which enter the construction of spillovers are further investigated. In addition to R&D spillovers, firms’ own R&D capital, labour and physical capital are estimated by means of a Cobb–Douglas production function. The data set consists of a representative sample of 625 worldwide R&D intensive firms over the period 1987–1994.     

R&D spillovers and productivity: Evidence from U.S. manufacturing microdata

This paper deals with the estimation of the impact of technology spillovers on productivity at the firm level. Panel data for American manufacturing firms on sales, physical capital inputs, employment and R&D investments are linked to R&D data by industry. The latter data are used to construct four different sets of `indirect' R&D stocks, representing technology obtained through spillovers. The differences between two distinct kinds of spillovers are stressed. Cointegration analysis is introduced into production function estimation. Spillovers are found to have significant positive effects on productivity, although their magnitudes differ between high-tech, medium-tech and low-tech firms. First version received: April 1997/final version received: April 1999     

The two ways of FDI R&D spillovers: evidence from the French manufacturing industry

Using French firm-level panel data, this study investigates R&D spillovers from inward foreign direct investment (FDI) with respect to both horizontal and vertical linkages (backward and forward). Using a Crepon, Duguet and Mairesse (CDM) model, we estimate an R&D-augmented Cobb–Douglas production function to assess the impact of R&D spillovers on firm performance. The results emphasize that international spillovers (from foreign affiliates to local firms) have a greater effect on firm performance than reverse spillovers (from local firms to foreign affiliates) and are more likely to be backward than forward. Moreover, the effect of backward spillovers depends on a firm’s absorptive capacity and is amplified in the case of outsourcing relationships.     

R&D Strategy in International Mixed Duopoly with Research Spillovers

This paper examines the international mixed duopoly behaviour with research spillovers. Using a two‐stage game with Research and Development (R&D) and output, we investigate the effects of imperfectly appropriable R&D on optimal R&D strategies of a domestic public firm and a foreign private firm across different market interactions: (i) international R&D competition, (ii) only the foreign firm conducts R&D, (iii) only the domestic public firm conducts R&D, (iv) no firm conducts R&D, and (v) research joint venture. The results show that firms' research performances are determined by the degree of spillovers and the optimal R&D strategies involve R&D competition. Spillovers are shown to be socially beneficial and their absence can prove to be a strategic deterrent, with the public firm monopolising the market. Some of these findings contrast with the traditional models of oligopoly (with or without R&D) and mixed oligopoly (without R&D).     

Technological convergence, R&D, trade and productivity growth

This paper analyses productivity growth in a panel of 14 United Kingdom manufacturing industries since 1970. Innovation and technology transfer provide two potential sources of productivity growth for a country behind the technological frontier. We examine the roles played by research and development (R&D), international trade, and human capital in stimulating each source of productivity growth. Technology transfer is statistically significant and quantitatively important. While R&D raises rates of innovation, international trade enhances the speed of technology transfer. Human capital primarily affects output through private rates of return (captured in our index of labour quality) rather than measured TFP.     

Research and development,productive structure and economic effects: Assessing the role of public financing in Brazil

Investments in research and development (R&D) have played a key role in promoting productivity improvements and economic growth. This paper explores the economics effects of public R&D investment funding in Brazil, taking into account the changes in total factor productivity (TFP) in high-, medium- and low-technology sectors. Public funding plays an important role in the development of R&D activities in Brazil and its participation has increased since 2010. Our paper simulates a withdrawal of R&D investments and TFP linked to public financing from an R&D-based computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, which recognizes the stock-flow relation between R&D investment and knowledge capital. Without public R&D investment funding, the main findings indicate losses in TFP, adverse effects on the formation of physical capital, shrinkage of more intensive R&D industries, and more future dependence on the public sector for knowledge stock, especially for education.     

R&D and foreign direct investment with asymmetric spillovers

This paper analyzes how firms’ R&D investment decisions are affected by asymmetries in knowledge transmission, considering different sources of asymmetry such as unequal know-how management capabilities and spillovers localization within an international oligopoly. We show that a better ability to manage knowledge flows incentivizes the firm to invest more in R&D. By introducing geographically bounded spillovers, we also find that one-way foreign direct investment (FDI) stimulates the multinational enterprise to raise its own R&D and that an FDI equilibrium is more likely to occur. Finally, spillovers localization leading to two-way FDI is welfare improving when compared with non-localized spillovers.     

International R&D Spillovers: Trade,FDI, and Information Technology as Spillover Channels*

With the rapid pace of economic integration, the productivity of a country depends not only on domestic R&D, but also on foreign R&D through technology diffusion across countries. The advancement of information technology (IT) has made the international transmission of knowledge faster and more efficient, providing an important channel for international R&D spillovers. This paper investigates three channels of international R&D spillovers: trade, FDI, and information technology. Applying panel cointegration and dynamic OLS analysis to the data for 21 OECD countries plus Israel during the period from 1981 to 1998, we find that bilateral trade remains an important conduit for international R&D spillovers. Although bilateral FDI is found to be positively related to international R&D spillovers, their impact on productivity growth is relatively small. We also find that the development of information technology has played a more important role in international R&D spillovers and productivity growth in recent years.     

International talent inflow and R&D investment: Firm-level evidence from China

Using firm-level R&D data with regional international talent data, we find that international talent increases the R&D investment of Chinese manufacturing firms, a result that is further confirmed with patent data and under a number of robustness checks. These findings stem from two mechanisms: international talent boosts human capital accumulation and provides a diversified labor force. Further, the R&D promoting effect is stronger if firms are located in eastern China rather than in other regions, of small and medium-sized rather than large-sized, of domestic ownership rather than foreign ownership. The policy implication is, the introduction of international talent can be a new way to promoting R&D investment, especially for skilled-labor constrained countries.