IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/snbeco/v2y2022i11d10.1007_s43546-022-00353-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

R&D internationalisation and sector productivity: a host country perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Boutheina Abassi

    (Laboratory of Economics and Industrial Management (LEGI), Tunisia Polytechnic School)

  • Moez El Elj

    (Laboratory of Economics and Industrial Management (LEGI), Tunisia Polytechnic School
    University of Tunis)

Abstract

Offshoring research and development (R&D) is part of a global tendency of value chain desegregation. The increasing trend towards R&D decentralisation leads to tangible implications for the home country and host country. It raises concerns regarding the “hollowing-out” and the loss of knowledge basis and technological competitiveness. This paper addresses this topic and examines the effect of R&D offshoring on industrial productivity from a host country perspective using an R&D offshoring indicator and industry-level for major OECD countries over the period 2005–2016. In particular, this study explores whether FDI-related R&D of multinational’s foreign affiliates have a significant impact on host sector productivity level. The findings indicate that R&D offshoring generates significant productivity gains. In fact, there is a positive association between the extent of inward R&D and the host sector productivity, supporting the idea that R&D inflows and foreign R&D strengthen local knowledge base and technological capabilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Boutheina Abassi & Moez El Elj, 2022. "R&D internationalisation and sector productivity: a host country perspective," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(11), pages 1-18, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:snbeco:v:2:y:2022:i:11:d:10.1007_s43546-022-00353-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s43546-022-00353-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s43546-022-00353-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s43546-022-00353-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Keller, Wolfgang, 2002. "Trade and the Transmission of Technology," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 5-24, March.
    2. Claudio Cozza & Chiara Franco & Giulio Perani & Antonello Zanfei, 2021. "Foreign vs. domestic multinationals in R&D linkage strategies," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(6), pages 725-748, July.
    3. Bruno Van Pottelsberghe De La Potterie & Frank Lichtenberg, 2001. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Transfer Technology Across Borders?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(3), pages 490-497, August.
    4. López-Pueyo, Carmen & Barcenilla-Visús, Sara & Sanaú, Jaime, 2008. "International R&D spillovers and manufacturing productivity: A panel data analysis," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 152-172, June.
    5. Dirk Frantzen, 2002. "Intersectoral and International R&D Knowledge Spillovers and Total Factor Productivity," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 49(3), pages 280-303, August.
    6. Alkemade, Floortje & Heimeriks, Gaston & Schoen, Antoine & Villard, Lionel & Laurens, Patricia, 2015. "Tracking the internationalization of multinational corporate inventive activity: national and sectoral characteristics," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(9), pages 1763-1772.
    7. Bayoumi, Tamim & Coe, David T. & Helpman, Elhanan, 1999. "R&D spillovers and global growth," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 399-428, April.
    8. Bitzer, Jürgen & Kerekes, Monika, 2008. "Does foreign direct investment transfer technology across borders? New evidence," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 100(3), pages 355-358, September.
    9. Choi, In, 2001. "Unit root tests for panel data," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 249-272, April.
    10. Athukorala, Prema-chandra & Kohpaiboon, Archanun, 2010. "Globalization of R&D by US-based multinational enterprises," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1335-1347, December.
    11. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Issues in Assessing the Contribution of Research and Development to Productivity Growth," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 17-45, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Jaana Rahko, 2021. "R&D internationalization and firm productivity. Does the host country matter?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(16), pages 1807-1825, April.
    13. Kuemmerle, Walter, 1999. "Foreign direct investment in industrial research in the pharmaceutical and electronics industries--results from a survey of multinational firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(2-3), pages 179-193, March.
    14. Jacques Mairesse & Pierre Mohnen, 2005. "The Importance of R&D for Innovation: A Reassessment Using French Survey Data," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 30(2_2), pages 183-197, January.
    15. Coe, David T. & Helpman, Elhanan & Hoffmaister, Alexander W., 2009. "International R&D spillovers and institutions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(7), pages 723-741, October.
    16. Crespo Jorge & Martín Carmela & Velázquez Francisco J, 2004. "The Role of International Technology Spillovers in the Economic Growth of the OECD Countries," Global Economy Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 4(2), pages 1-20, December.
    17. Coe, David T. & Helpman, Elhanan, 1995. "International R&D spillovers," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 859-887, May.
    18. Krammer, Sorin M.S., 2014. "Assessing the relative importance of multiple channels for embodied and disembodied technological spillovers," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 272-286.
    19. Cristina Castelli & Davide Castellani, 2013. "The internationalisation of r&d: sectoral and geographic patterns of cross-border investments," ECONOMIA E POLITICA INDUSTRIALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2013(1), pages 127-143.
    20. Heike Belitz & Florian Mölders, 2016. "International knowledge spillovers through high-tech imports and R&D of foreign-owned firms," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 590-613, June.
    21. Bas, Christian Le & Sierra, Christophe, 2002. "'Location versus home country advantages' in R&D activities: some further results on multinationals' locational strategies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 589-609, May.
    22. Castellani, Davide & Pieri, Fabio, 2013. "R&D offshoring and the productivity growth of European regions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(9), pages 1581-1594.
    23. Patel, Pari & Vega, Modesto, 1999. "Patterns of internationalisation of corporate technology: location vs. home country advantages1," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(2-3), pages 145-155, March.
    24. Hall, Bronwyn H. & Mairesse, Jacques, 1995. "Exploring the relationship between R&D and productivity in French manufacturing firms," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 263-293, January.
    25. Prescott, Edward C, 1998. "Needed: A Theory of Total Factor Productivity," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 39(3), pages 525-551, August.
    26. Sorin Krammer, 2010. "International R&D spillovers in emerging markets: The impact of trade and foreign direct investment," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 591-623.
    27. Cantwell, John, 1995. "The Globalisation of Technology: What Remains of the Product Cycle Model?," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 19(1), pages 155-174, February.
    28. Giuditta De Prato & Daniel Nepelski, 2012. "Global R&D network. A network analysis of international R&D centres," JRC Research Reports JRC79478, Joint Research Centre, revised Nov 2012.
    29. Franco Malerba & Maria Mancusi & Fabio Montobbio, 2013. "Innovation, international R&D spillovers and the sectoral heterogeneity of knowledge flows," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 149(4), pages 697-722, December.
    30. Alejandro Ciruelos & Miao Wang, 2005. "International Technology Diffusion: Effects of Trade and FDI," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 33(4), pages 437-449, December.
    31. Bart Verspagen, 1997. "Estimating international technology spillovers using technology flow matrices," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 133(2), pages 226-248, June.
    32. Xu, Bin, 2000. "Trade, FDI, and International Technology Diffusion," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 15, pages 585-601.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Marina Papanastassiou & Robert Pearce & Antonello Zanfei, 2020. "Changing perspectives on the internationalization of R&D and innovation by multinational enterprises: A review of the literature," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(4), pages 623-664, June.
    2. Ugur, Mehmet & Churchill, Sefa Awaworyi & Luong, Hoang M., 2020. "What do we know about R&D spillovers and productivity? Meta-analysis evidence on heterogeneity and statistical power," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    3. Abassi, Boutheina, 2015. "International R&D spillovers, R&D offshoring and economic performance: A survey of literature," MPRA Paper 66986, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Neil Foster-McGregor, 2012. "Innovation and Technology Transfer across Countries," wiiw Research Reports 380, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    5. Hall, Bronwyn H. & Mairesse, Jacques & Mohnen, Pierre, 2010. "Measuring the Returns to R&D," 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 1033-1082, Elsevier.
    6. Krammer, Sorin M.S., 2015. "Do good institutions enhance the effect of technological spillovers on productivity? Comparative evidence from developed and transition economies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 133-154.
    7. Lorena D’Agostino, 2015. "The neglected effects of R&D captive offshoring in emerging countries on the creation of knowledge at home," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 42(1), pages 61-91, March.
    8. Capolupo, Rosa, 2009. "The New Growth Theories and Their Empirics after Twenty Years," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 3, pages 1-72.
    9. Ioannis Bournakis & Dimitris Christopoulos & Sushanta Mallick, 2015. "Knowlegde Spillovers, absorptive capacity and growth: An industry-level Analysis for OECD countries," FIW Working Paper series 147, FIW.
    10. Mitze, Timo & Naveed, Amjad & Ahmad, Nisar, 2016. "International, intersectoral, or unobservable? Measuring R&D spillovers under weak and strong cross-sectional dependence," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 259-272.
    11. Markus Eberhardt & Christian Helmers & Hubert Strauss, 2013. "Do Spillovers Matter When Estimating Private Returns to R&D?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(2), pages 436-448, May.
    12. Ioannis Bournakis & Dimitris Christopoulos & Sushanta Mallick, 2018. "Knowledge Spillovers And Output Per Worker: An Industry‐Level Analysis For Oecd Countries," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(2), pages 1028-1046, April.
    13. Hall, Bronwyn H., 2011. "The internationalization of R&D," MERIT Working Papers 2011-049, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    14. Krammer, Marius Sorin, 2008. "International R&D spillovers in transition countries: the impact of trade and foreign direct investment," Kiel Advanced Studies Working Papers 446, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    15. Ugur, Mehmet & Trushin, Eshref & Solomon, Edna & Guidi, Francesco, 2016. "R&D and productivity in OECD firms and industries: A hierarchical meta-regression analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(10), pages 2069-2086.
    16. Shimizutani, Satoshi & Todo, Yasuyuki, 2008. "What determines overseas R&D activities? The case of Japanese multinational firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 530-544, April.
    17. Krammer, Sorin M.S., 2014. "Assessing the relative importance of multiple channels for embodied and disembodied technological spillovers," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 272-286.
    18. Gioldasis, Georgios & Musolesi, Antonio & Simioni, Michel, 2023. "Interactive R&D spillovers: An estimation strategy based on forecasting-driven model selection," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 144-169.
    19. Castellani, Davide & Pieri, Fabio, 2013. "R&D offshoring and the productivity growth of European regions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(9), pages 1581-1594.
    20. Heike Belitz & Florian Mölders, 2016. "International knowledge spillovers through high-tech imports and R&D of foreign-owned firms," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 590-613, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Productivity growth; Offshoring of R&D; Internationalisation; Multinational firms;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • L6 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

    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:spr:snbeco:v:2:y:2022:i:11:d:10.1007_s43546-022-00353-9. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.