IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/zbw/kdijep/v37y2015i3p75-106.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Adoption of Foreign Technologies in Korean Manufacturing Firms: Characteristics and Microfoundations

Author

Listed:
  • Suh, Joong hae

Abstract

The primary goal of this paper is to explore the microeconomic foundation of Korean firms' adoption of foreign technologies. The paper also reviews the overall trend of international technology transfers to Korea. The period covered in this paper is Korea's high growth era, from the 1960s to the 1990s. The works of this paper center on the two questions of what characterizes foreign technologies which had been imported through licensing contracts, and which driving forces expedite technology adoption by firms. The Korean experience provides the context of success in the catch-up growth. The co-movement of technology imports with capital goods imports manifests Korea's effort to improve the technical efficiency toward the world frontier. Underlying this trend are firms' decisions to adopt new technologies. The paper shows that firms respond proactively to wage increases by adopting newer technologies and thus, in turn, increasing employment, which implies the existence of a virtuous interactive mechanism among these factors.

Suggested Citation

  • Suh, Joong hae, 2015. "Adoption of Foreign Technologies in Korean Manufacturing Firms: Characteristics and Microfoundations," KDI Journal of Economic Policy, Korea Development Institute (KDI), vol. 37(3), pages 75-106.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:kdijep:v:37:y:2015:i:3:p:75-106
    DOI: 10.23895/kdijep.2015.37.3.75
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/200776/1/kdi-jep-37-3-4.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.23895/kdijep.2015.37.3.75?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paulo G. Correa & Ana M. Fernandes & Chris J. Uregian, 2010. "Technology Adoption and the Investment Climate: Firm-Level Evidence for Eastern Europe and Central Asia," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 24(1), pages 121-147, January.
    2. Jin‐Tan Liu & Meng‐Wen Tsou & James K. Hammitt, 2001. "The Impact of Advanced Technology Adoption on Wage Structures: Evidence from Taiwan Manufacturing Firms," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 68(271), pages 359-378, August.
    3. Kim, Jae Won, 1984. "CES Production Functions in Manufacturing and Problems of Industrialization in LDCs: Evidence from Korea," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(1), pages 143-165, October.
    4. Freeman, Richard B. & Katz, Lawrence F. (ed.), 1995. "Differences and Changes in Wage Structures," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226261607, December.
    5. Liu, Jin-Tan & Tsou, Meng-Wen & Hammitt, James K, 2001. "The Impact of Advanced Technology Adoption on Wage Structures: Evidence from Taiwan Manufacturing Firms," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 68(271), pages 359-378, August.
    6. Sriwannawit, Pranpreya & Sandström, Ulf, 2013. "Review of Diffusion Research," INDEK Working Paper Series 2013/1, Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Industrial Economics and Management.
    7. Subodh Kumar & R. Robert Russell, 2002. "Technological Change, Technological Catch-up, and Capital Deepening: Relative Contributions to Growth and Convergence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(3), pages 527-548, June.
    8. Chris Freeman & Luc Soete, 1997. "The Economics of Industrial Innovation, 3rd Edition," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 3, volume 1, number 0262061953, December.
    9. Sanjaya Lall & Shujiro Urata (ed.), 2003. "Competitiveness, FDI and Technological Activity in East Asia," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2837.
    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. Hinh T. Dinh, 2017. "Jobs, Industrialization, and Globalization," Books & Reports, Policy Center for the New South, number 16, December.

    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. James P. Vere, 2005. "Wage Structure Effects of Taiwan's Science and Technology Development Policy," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 19(2), pages 159-180, June.
    2. Natália Barbosa & Ana Faria, 2008. "Technology adoption: does labour skill matter? Evidence from Portuguese firm-level data," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 35(2), pages 179-194, April.
    3. Hinh T. Dinh, 2017. "Jobs, Industrialization, and Globalization," Books & Reports, Policy Center for the New South, number 16, December.
    4. Chang, Ching-Fu & Wang, Ping & Liu, Jin-Tan, 2016. "Knowledge spillovers, human capital and productivity," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 47(PB), pages 214-232.
    5. Andy Dickerson & Francis Green, 2002. "The Growth and Valuation of Generic Skills," Studies in Economics 0203, School of Economics, University of Kent.
    6. Byoung-Min Kim & Richard Widdows & Tansel Yilmazer, 2005. "The determinants of consumers’ adoption of Internet banking," Conference Series ; [Proceedings], Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    7. Mishra, Ashok K. & Park, Timothy A., 2005. "An Empirical Analysis of Internet Use by U.S. Farmers," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 34(2), pages 253-264, October.
    8. Liu, Jin-Tan & Tsou, Meng-Wen & Hammitt, James K., 2004. "Computer use and wages: evidence from Taiwan," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 43-51, January.
    9. Ahmed Waqar Qasim, 2023. "Firms and Technology Adoption: The Role of Political Institutions and Market Size (Article)," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 62(1), pages 61-85.
    10. Görg, Holger & Strobl, Eric, 2002. "Relative Wages, Openness and Skill-Biased Technological Change," IZA Discussion Papers 596, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Fu, Xiaolan & Pietrobelli, Carlo & Soete, Luc, 2011. "The Role of Foreign Technology and Indigenous Innovation in the Emerging Economies: Technological Change and Catching-up," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 1204-1212, July.
    12. Foxon, T. J. & Gross, R. & Chase, A. & Howes, J. & Arnall, A. & Anderson, D., 2005. "UK innovation systems for new and renewable energy technologies: drivers, barriers and systems failures," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(16), pages 2123-2137, November.
    13. Ziad Rotaba & Catherine Beaudry, 2012. "How Do High, Medium, And Low Tech Firms Innovate? A System Of Innovation (Si) Approach," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(05), pages 1-23.
    14. Kerstin Enflo & Per Hjertstrand, 2009. "Relative Sources of European Regional Productivity Convergence: A Bootstrap Frontier Approach," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(5), pages 643-659.
    15. Cimoli, Mario & Primi, Annalisa & Rovira, Sebastián, 2011. "National innovation surveys in latin America: empirical evidence and policy implications," Documentos de Proyectos 3897, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    16. Battisti, Michele & Gatto, Massimo Del & Parmeter, Christopher F., 2022. "Skill-biased technical change and labor market inefficiency," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    17. Hibbs, Douglas A, Jr, 2000. "Bread and Peace Voting in U.S. Presidential Elections," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 104(1-2), pages 149-180, July.
    18. Petersen, Alexander M. & Rotolo, Daniele & Leydesdorff, Loet, 2016. "A triple helix model of medical innovation: Supply, demand, and technological capabilities in terms of Medical Subject Headings," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 666-681.
    19. Svenja G rtner, 2013. "German Stagnation vs. Swedish Progression: Gender Wage Gaps in Comparison, 1960-2006," LIS Working papers 586, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    20. Cristiano Perugini & Gaetano Martino, 2008. "Income Inequality Within European Regions: Determinants And Effects On Growth," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 54(3), pages 373-406, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Korean manufacturing firms; catchup growth; international technology transfer; technology adoption; microeconomic analysis of economic development;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

    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:zbw:kdijep:v:37:y:2015:i:3:p:75-106. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/kdiiikr.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.