[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unm/unumer/2008061.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

FDI and Innovation as Drivers of Export Behaviour: Firm-level Evidence from East Asia

Author

Listed:
  • Wignaraja, Ganeshan

    (Office of Regional Economic Integration, Asian Development Bank)

Abstract
This paper examines the links between ownership, innovation and exporting in electronics firms in three late industrializing East Asian countries (China, Thailand and the Philippines) drawing on recent developments in applied international trade and innovation and learning. Technology-based approaches to trade offer a plausible explanation for firm-level exporting behavior. The econometric results (using probit) confirm the importance of foreign ownership and innovation in increasing the probability of exporting in electronics. Higher levels of skills, managers' education and capital also matter in China as well as accumulated experience in Thailand. Furthermore, a technology index composed of technical functions performed by firms emerges as a more robust indicator of innovation than the R&D to sales ratio. Accordingly, technological effort in electronics in these countries mostly focuses on assimilating and using imported technologies rather than formal R&D by specialized engineers.

Suggested Citation

  • Wignaraja, Ganeshan, 2008. "FDI and Innovation as Drivers of Export Behaviour: Firm-level Evidence from East Asia," MERIT Working Papers 2008-061, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    • Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2008061
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://unu-merit.nl/publications/wppdf/2008/wp2008-061.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dijk, van M., 2001. "The Determinants of Export Performance in Developing Countries: The Case of Indonesian Manufacturing," Working Papers 02.01, Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies.
    2. Ganeshan Wignaraja, 1998. "Trade Liberalization in Sri Lanka," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-26267-0, October.
    3. Lall, Sanjaya, 1992. "Technological capabilities and industrialization," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 165-186, February.
    4. Correa, Paulo & Dayoub, Mariam & Francisco, Manuela, 2007. "Identifying supply-side constraints to export performance in Ecuador : an exercise with Investment Climate Survey data," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4179, The World Bank.
    5. Yingqi Wei & Xiaming Liu & Chengang Wang, 2008. "Mutual productivity spillovers between foreign and local firms in China," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 32(4), pages 609-631, July.
    6. Richard Nelson, 2008. "Economic Development from the Perspective of Evolutionary Economic Theory," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(1), pages 9-21.
    7. Brown, Flor & Domínguez Villalobos, Lilia, 2004. "Measuring technological capabilities in Mexican industry," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), August.
    8. Freeman, Christopher & Soete, Luc, 2009. "Developing science, technology and innovation indicators: What we can learn from the past," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 583-589, May.
    9. Herbert Glejser & Alexis Jacquemin & Jean Petit, 1980. "Exports in an Imperfect Competition Framework: An Analysis of 1,446 Exporters," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 94(3), pages 507-524.
    10. Sanjaya Lall, 1987. "Learning to Industrialize," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-18798-0, October.
    11. Alan V Deardorff, 2011. "How Robust is Comparative Advantage?," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Robert M Stern (ed.), Comparative Advantage, Growth, And The Gains From Trade And Globalization A Festschrift in Honor of Alan V Deardorff, chapter 17, pages 183-195, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    12. Salvador Barrios & Holger Görg & Eric Strobl, 2003. "Explaining Firms’ Export Behaviour: R&D, Spillovers and the Destination Market," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 65(4), pages 475-496, September.
    13. Sanjaya Lall & Giorgio Barba Navaretti & Simón Teitel & Ganeshan Wignaraja, 1994. "Technology and Enterprise Development," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-13925-5, October.
    14. Sanjaya Lall, 1986. "Technological development and export performance in LDCs: Leading engineering and chemical firms in India," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 122(1), pages 80-92, March.
    15. Jun Du & Sourafel Girma, 2007. "Finance and Firm Export in China," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 37-54, February.
    16. Rasiah, Rajah, 2003. "Foreign ownership, technology and electronics exports from Malaysia and Thailand," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 785-811, October.
    17. Auquier, Antoine A, 1980. "Sizes of Firms, Exporting Behavior, and the Structure of French Industry," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 203-218, December.
    18. Saradindu Bhaduri & Amit Ray, 2004. "Exporting through technological capability: econometric evidence from India's pharmaceutical and electrical/electronics firms," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 87-100.
    19. Romijn, Henny, 1997. "Acquisition of technological capability in development: A quantitative case study of Pakistan's capital goods sector," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 359-377, March.
    20. Michael Bleaney & Katharine Wakelin, 2002. "Efficiency, innovation and exports," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 64(1), pages 3-15, February.
    21. Iammarino, Simona & Padilla-Pérez, Ramon & von Tunzelmann, Nick, 2008. "Technological Capabilities and Global-Local Interactions: The Electronics Industry in Two Mexican Regions," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 1980-2003, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Md Qamruzzaman & Tahar Tayachi & Ahmed Muneeb Mehta & Majid Ali, 2021. "Do International Capital Flows, Institutional Quality Matter for Innovation Output: The Mediating Role of Economic Policy Uncertainty," JOItmC, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-26, May.
    2. Trinh, Long, 2015. "Dynamics of innovation and internationalization among Vietnamese SMEs," MPRA Paper 68308, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 26 Nov 2015.
    3. Trinh, Long Q., 2016. "Dynamics of Innovation and Internationalization among Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Viet Nam," ADBI Working Papers 580, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    4. Willem Thorbecke & Biswa N. Bhattacharyay, 2012. "Role of Production Networks in Sustaining and Rebalancing Asia's Growth," CESifo Working Paper Series 3896, CESifo.
    5. Kaliappa Kalirajan,, 2012. "Regional Cooperation towards Green Asia : Trade and Investment," Development Economics Working Papers 23291, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    6. repec:phd:pjdevt:pjd_2009_vol__xxxvi_no__2-c is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Lau, Chi Keung Marco & Suvankulov, Farrukh & Karabag, Solmaz Filiz, 2012. "Determinants of firm competitiveness: case of the Turkish textile and apparel industry," MPRA Paper 46974, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Kawai, Masahiro & Wignaraja, Ganeshan, 2011. "Asian FTAs: Trends, prospects and challenges," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 1-22, February.
    9. Wignaraja, Ganeshan & Lazaro, Dorothea & DeGuzman, Genevieve, 2010. "FTAs and Philippine Business: Evidence from Transport, Food, and Electronics Firms," ADBI Working Papers 185, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    10. Kaliappa Kalirajan & Venkatachalam Anbumozhi, 2014. "Regional Cooperation Toward Green Asia: Trade in Low Carbon Goods," The International Trade Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(4), pages 344-362, October.
    11. Thorbecke, Willem & Salike, Nimesh, 2011. "Understanding Foreign Direct Investment in East Asia," ADBI Working Papers 290, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    12. Kalirajan, Kaliappa, 2012. "Regional cooperation towards green Asia: Trade in low carbon goods and services," Working Papers 249395, Australian National University, Centre for Climate Economics & Policy.
    13. Molina-Domene, María A. & Pietrobelli, Carlo, 2012. "Drivers of technological capabilities in developing countries: An econometric analysis of Argentina, Brazil and Chile," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 504-515.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ganeshan Wignaraja, 2013. "Understanding Innovation in Production Networks in East Asia," Trade Working Papers 23395, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    2. Wignaraja, Ganeshan, 2012. "Do Exporting Firms in the People’s Republic of China Innovate?," ADBI Working Papers 365, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    3. Wignaraja, Ganeshan, 2012. "Innovation, learning, and exporting in China: Does R&D or a technology index matter?," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 224-233.
    4. Wignaraja, Ganeshan, 2008. "Foreign ownership, technological capabilities and clothing exports in Sri Lanka," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 29-39, February.
    5. Ganeshan Wignaraja & Jens Krüger & Anna Mae Tuazon, 2013. "Production Networks, Profits, and Innovative Activity : Evidence from Malaysia and Thailand," Microeconomics Working Papers 23391, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    6. Molina-Domene, María A. & Pietrobelli, Carlo, 2012. "Drivers of technological capabilities in developing countries: An econometric analysis of Argentina, Brazil and Chile," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 504-515.
    7. Wignaraja, Ganeshan, 2006. "Foreign Ownership, Technological Capabilities and Exports: Evidence from 205 Clothing Firms in Sri Lanka," MERIT Working Papers 2006-032, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    8. Ganeshan Wignaraja, 2012. "Engaging Small and Medium Enterprises in Production Networks : Firm-level Analysis of Five ASEAN Economies," Governance Working Papers 23316, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    9. Ganeshan Wignaraja, 2014. "Joining the supply chain: a firm-level perspective," Chapters, in: Richard Baldwin & Masahiro Kawai & Ganeshan Wignaraja (ed.), A World Trade Organization for the 21st Century, chapter 4, pages 71-109, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Tarighi, Sina & Shavvalpour, Saeed, 2021. "Technological development of E&P companies in developing countries: An integrative approach to define and prioritize customized elements of technological capability in EOR," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    11. Fagerberg, Jan & Srholec, Martin & Verspagen, Bart, 2010. "Innovation and Economic Development," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 833-872, Elsevier.
    12. Andrea Morrison & Carlo Pietrobelli & Roberta Rabellotti, 2006. "Global Value Chains and Technological Capabilities: A Framework to Study Industrial Innovation in Developing Countries," KITeS Working Papers 192, KITeS, Centre for Knowledge, Internationalization and Technology Studies, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy, revised Dec 2006.
    13. Ozcelik, Emre & Taymaz, Erol, 2004. "Does innovativeness matter for international competitiveness in developing countries?: The case of Turkish manufacturing industries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 409-424, April.
    14. Keshari, Pradeep Kumar, 2012. "FDI and firm level export competitiveness in the Indian machinery industry," MPRA Paper 47069, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. David M. Kemme & Alex Nikolsko-Rzhevskyy & Deepraj Mukherjee, 2014. "Foreign Capital, Spillovers and Export Performance in Emerging Economies: Evidence from Indian IT Firms," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 681-692, November.
    16. K.J. Joseph, 2005. "Strategic Approach to Strengthening the International Competitiveness in Knowledge Based Industries : Electronics Industry," Microeconomics Working Papers 22102, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    17. Egbetokun, Abiodun A., 2015. "Interactive learning and firm-level capabilities in latecomer settings: The Nigerian manufacturing industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 231-241.
    18. Tin Htoo NAING & Yap Su FEI, 2015. "Multinationals, Technology and Regional Linkages in Myanmar's Clothing Industry," Working Papers DP-2015-14, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    19. Correa, Paulo & Dayoub, Mariam & Francisco, Manuela, 2007. "Identifying supply-side constraints to export performance in Ecuador : an exercise with Investment Climate Survey data," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4179, The World Bank.
    20. Romijn, Henny, 1997. "Acquisition of technological capability in development: A quantitative case study of Pakistan's capital goods sector," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 359-377, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    foreign direct investment; innovation; technological capabilities; R&D; firm-level exports; electronics; East Asia; China; Thailand and the Philippines;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • L63 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Microelectronics; Computers; Communications Equipment
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2008061. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Ad Notten (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/meritnl.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.