IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/riadxx/v3y2013i1p89-101.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Firm size, export intensity, and technological capabilities in Sri Lankan manufacturing firms: an evolutionary analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Rajah Rasiah
  • Fathimath Rasheed

Abstract

This article analyses size-based differences in export intensity ( X / Y ) and technological capabilities in Sri Lankan manufacturing firms. Consistent with evolutionary arguments, the results show that size-based differences in X / Y and technological capabilities vary across industries. After controlling for age, the results show that large firms were more export intensive than SMEs in the clothing industry, while it was the opposite in the food and beverage industry. Large firms enjoyed an edge over SMEs in human resource (HR) capability in the rubber industry and process technology (PT) in the food and beverage industry. SMEs enjoyed higher adaptive capabilities than large firms in the clothing and food and beverage industries. Scale dimensions mattered in HR capability in the rubber industry and PT capability in the food and beverage industry. Flexibility to support changes in demand were important in explaining the higher adaptive engineering capabilities enjoyed by SMEs compared with large firms in the clothing and food and beverage industries. The variations show that it is extremely important not to generalize from particular experiences to generate policy recommendations. Hence, country and industry specificities matter when initiating institutional change to support technological upgrading.

Suggested Citation

  • Rajah Rasiah & Fathimath Rasheed, 2013. "Firm size, export intensity, and technological capabilities in Sri Lankan manufacturing firms: an evolutionary analysis," Innovation and Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 89-101, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:riadxx:v:3:y:2013:i:1:p:89-101
    DOI: 10.1080/17494060.2012.762166
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/17494060.2012.762166
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/17494060.2012.762166?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. Wagner, Alfred, 1891. "Marshall's Principles of Economics," History of Economic Thought Articles, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, vol. 5, pages 319-338.
    2. Davies, Stephen W., 1979. "Inter-firm diffusion of process innovations," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 299-317, October.
    3. Best, Michael, 2001. "The New Competitive Advantage: The Renewal of American Industry," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198297451, Decembrie.
    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. Rajah Rasiah, 2011. "The Role of Institutions and Linkages in Learning and Innovation," Institutions and Economies (formerly known as International Journal of Institutions and Economies), Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, vol. 3(2), pages 165-172, July.
    2. Maryann Feldman & Frederick Guy & Simona Iammarino, 2021. "Regional income disparities, monopoly and finance," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 14(1), pages 25-49.
    3. 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).
    4. Maryann Feldman & Frederick Guy & Simona Iammarino, 2019. "Regional income disparities, monopoly & finance," Working Papers 43, Birkbeck Centre for Innovation Management Research, revised Feb 2021.
    5. A.J. Arnold, 2017. "Capital reduction case law decisions and the development of the capital maintenance doctrine in late-nineteenth-century England," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(2), pages 172-190, February.
    6. Fındık, Derya & Tansel, Aysit, 2013. "Resources on the stage: a firm level analysis of the ict adoption in Turkey," MPRA Paper 65956, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 05 Aug 2014.
    7. Yariv, Leeat & Jackson, Matthew O., 2018. "The Non-Existence of Representative Agents," CEPR Discussion Papers 13397, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. SAITO Yukiko, 2013. "Role of Hub Firms in Geographical Transaction Network," Discussion papers 13080, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    9. Emanuela Marrocu & Raffaele Paci & Stefano Usai, 2013. "Productivity Growth In The Old And New Europe: The Role Of Agglomeration Externalities," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 418-442, August.
    10. John Bradley, 2008. "National and Regional Development Policy: Comparing Ireland and Poland," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 1-2, pages 1-15.
    11. Duranton, Gilles & Jayet, Hubert, 2011. "Is the division of labour limited by the extent of the market? Evidence from French cities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 56-71, January.
    12. Kristien Werck & Bruno Heyndels & Benny Geys, 2008. "The impact of ‘central places’ on spatial spending patterns: evidence from Flemish local government cultural expenditures," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 32(1), pages 35-58, March.
    13. Koech Cheruiyot, 2022. "Detecting spatial economic clusters using kernel density and global and local Moran's I analysis in Ekurhuleni metropolitan municipality, South Africa," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(2), pages 307-327, April.
    14. Yunyao Li & Yanji Ma, 2022. "Research on Industrial Innovation Efficiency and the Influencing Factors of the Old Industrial Base Based on the Lock-In Effect, a Case Study of Jilin Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-23, October.
    15. Evert-Jan Visser & Oedzge Atzema, 2007. "With or Without Clusters: Facilitating Innovation through a Differentiated and Combined Network Approach," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(9), pages 1169-1188, April.
    16. Ramesh Chandra & Roger J. Sandilands, 2021. "Nicholas Kaldor, increasing returns and Verdoorn’s Law," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(2), pages 315-339, April.
    17. SHIMAMOTO Daichi & Yu Ri KIM & TODO Yasuyuki, 2019. "The Effect of Social Interactions on Exporting Activities: Evidence from Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises in rural Vietnam," Discussion papers 19020, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    18. Carlino, Gerald & Kerr, William R., 2015. "Agglomeration and Innovation," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 349-404, Elsevier.
    19. Giulia Faggio & Olmo Silva & William C Strange, 2020. "Tales of the city: what do agglomeration cases tell us about agglomeration in general? [The anchor tenant hypothesis: exploring the role of large, local, R&D-intensive firms in regional innovation ," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(5), pages 1117-1143.
    20. Paola Tubaro, 2009. "Is individual rationality essential to market price formation? The contribution of zero-intelligence agent trading models," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 1-19.

    More about this item

    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:taf:riadxx:v:3:y:2013:i:1:p:89-101. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/riad20 .

    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.