IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wip/wpaper/03.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Disembodied Knowledge Flows in the World Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Suma Athreye

    (Brunel Business School, Brunel University, Uxbridge, UK)

  • Yong Yang

    (Essex Business School University of Essex, Colchester, UK)

Abstract

For most of the post-war period developing countries have been told that relying on licensing for technology transfer is likely to yield disappointing results. However, this view of licensing has come a full circle as technology services trade has boomed since the 1990s. We outline the main trends in the growth of disembodied technology trade vis-a-vis international licensing and the trade in R&D and technical services. We show that there is considerable heterogeneity across countries in the form of technology trade that countries specialize in and also suggest these are related to underlying appropriability conditions and IPR regimes.

Suggested Citation

  • Suma Athreye & Yong Yang, 2011. "Disembodied Knowledge Flows in the World Economy," WIPO Economic Research Working Papers 03, World Intellectual Property Organization - Economics and Statistics Division, revised Dec 2011.
  • Handle: RePEc:wip:wpaper:03
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo_pub_econstat_wp_3.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arora, Ashish & Fosfuri, Andrea, 2003. "Licensing the market for technology," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 277-295, October.
    2. David J. TEECE, 2008. "Profiting from technological innovation: Implications for integration, collaboration, licensing and public policy," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Transfer And Licensing Of Know-How And Intellectual Property Understanding the Multinational Enterprise in the Modern World, chapter 5, pages 67-87, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    3. Smarzynska Javorcik, Beata, 2004. "The composition of foreign direct investment and protection of intellectual property rights: Evidence from transition economies," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 39-62, February.
    4. Fagerberg, Jan, 1987. "A technology gap approach to why growth rates differ," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 16(2-4), pages 87-99, August.
    5. Suma S. Athreye, 2005. "The Indian software industry and its evolving service capability," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 14(3), pages 393-418, June.
    6. David J. Teece, 2008. "Technology Transfer By Multinational Firms: The Resource Cost Of Transferring Technological Know-How," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Transfer And Licensing Of Know-How And Intellectual Property Understanding the Multinational Enterprise in the Modern World, chapter 1, pages 1-22, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    7. David J. Teece, 2008. "Firm organization, industrial structure, and technological innovation," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Transfer And Licensing Of Know-How And Intellectual Property Understanding the Multinational Enterprise in the Modern World, chapter 11, pages 265-296, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    8. Hicks, Diana & Hegde, Deepak, 2005. "Highly innovative small firms in the markets for technology," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 703-716, June.
    9. Vishwasrao, Sharmila, 1994. "Intellectual property rights and the mode of technology transfer," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 381-402, August.
    10. Elisabeth Christen & Joseph Francois, 2010. "Modes of Delivery in Services," Economics working papers 2010-08, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    11. Ginarte, Juan C. & Park, Walter G., 1997. "Determinants of patent rights: A cross-national study," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 283-301, October.
    12. Gary P. Sampson & Richard H. Snape, 1985. "Identifying the Issues in Trade in Services," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(2), pages 171-182, June.
    13. Balakrishnan, Srinivasan & Koza, Mitchell P., 1993. "Information asymmetry, adverse selection and joint-ventures : Theory and evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 99-117, January.
    14. Caves,Richard E., 2007. "Multinational Enterprise and Economic Analysis," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521677530, October.
    15. Athreye, Suma & Cantwell, John, 2007. "Creating competition?: Globalisation and the emergence of new technology producers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 209-226, March.
    16. Hagedoorn, John, 2002. "Inter-firm R&D partnerships: an overview of major trends and patterns since 1960," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 477-492, May.
    17. Mottner, Sandra & Johnson, James P., 2000. "Motivations and risks in international licensing: a review and implications for licensing to transitional and emerging economies," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 171-188, July.
    18. James Love & Stephen Roper, 2002. "Internal Versus External R&D: A Study of R&D Choice with Sample Selection," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(2), pages 239-255.
    19. John Hagedoorn & Stefanie Lorenz-Orlean & Hans van Kranenburg, 2009. "Inter-firm technology transfer: partnership-embedded licensing or standard licensing agreements?," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(3), pages 529-550, June.
    20. Arora, Ashish & Fosfuri, Andrea & Gambardella, Alfonso, 2001. "Markets for Technology and Their Implications for Corporate Strategy," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(2), pages 419-451, June.
    21. Eric von Hippel, 1994. ""Sticky Information" and the Locus of Problem Solving: Implications for Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(4), pages 429-439, April.
    22. Tarun Khanna & Bharat N. Anand, 1996. "Intellectual Property Rights and Contract Structure," Yale School of Management Working Papers ysm37, Yale School of Management.
    23. Ashish Arora, 1995. "Licensing Tacit Knowledge: Intellectual Property Rights And The Market For Know-How," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(1), pages 41-60.
    24. Davies, Howard, 1977. "Technology Transfer through Commercial Transactions," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 161-175, December.
    25. Bessy, Christian & Brousseau, Eric, 1998. "Technology licensing contracts features and diversity1," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 451-489, December.
    26. Lee, Jeong-Yeon & Mansfield, Edwin, 1996. "Intellectual Property Protection and U.S. Foreign Direct Investment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(2), pages 181-186, May.
    27. Glass, Amy Jocelyn & Saggi, Kamal, 1998. "International technology transfer and the technology gap," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 369-398, April.
    28. Ashish Arora & Alfonso Gambardella, 2005. "The Globalization of the Software Industry: Perspectives and Opportunities for Developed and Developing Countries," NBER Chapters, in: Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 5, pages 1-32, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    29. Suma Athreye & Sandeep Kapur, 2001. "Private Foreign Investment in India: Pain or Panacea?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 399-424, March.
    30. Farok J Contractor, 1980. "The “Profitability” of Technology Licensing by U.S. Multinationals: A Framework for Analysis and an Empirical Study," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 11(2), pages 40-62, June.
    31. Madeuf, Bernadette, 1984. "International technology transfers and international technology payments: Definitions, measurement and firms' behaviour," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 125-140, June.
    32. Caves,Richard E., 2007. "Multinational Enterprise and Economic Analysis," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521860130, October.
    33. Bresnahan,Timothy & Gambardella,Alfonso (ed.), 2004. "Building High-Tech Clusters," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521827225, October.
    34. Arora, Ashish, 1996. "Contracting for tacit knowledge: the provision of technical services in technology licensing contracts," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 233-256, August.
    35. A L Calvet, 1981. "A Synthesis of Foreign Direct Investment Theories and Theories of the Multinational Firm," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 12(1), pages 43-59, March.
    36. Fosfuri, Andrea, 2000. "Patent protection, imitation and the mode of technology transfer," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 18(7), pages 1129-1149, October.
    37. Parimal Patel, 2011. "Location of Innovative Activities of EU Large Firms," SPRU Working Paper Series 190, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    38. Lee G. Branstetter & Raymond Fisman & C. Fritz Foley, 2006. "Do Stronger Intellectual Property Rights Increase International Technology Transfer? Empirical Evidence from U. S. Firm-Level Panel Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 121(1), pages 321-349.
    39. Caves, Richard E & Crookell, Harold & Killing, J Peter, 1983. "The Imperfect Market for Technology Licenses," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 45(3), pages 249-267, August.
    40. Kumar, Nagesh, 1997. "Technology Generation and Technology Transfers in the World Economy: Recent Trends and Implications for Developing Countries," UNU-INTECH Discussion Paper Series 1997-02, United Nations University - INTECH.
    41. Suma Athreye & Andrew Godley, 2009. "Internationalization and technological leapfrogging in the pharmaceutical industry," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(2), pages 295-323, April.
    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. Wonchang Hur, 2017. "The patterns of knowledge spillovers across technology sectors evidenced in patent citation networks," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 111(2), pages 595-619, May.
    2. Stefano Comino & Fabio M. Manenti & NIkolaus Thumm, 2017. "The Role of Patents in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). A survey of the Literature," "Marco Fanno" Working Papers 0212, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche "Marco Fanno".
    3. Davidson, Sinclair & Mohan, Vijay & Potts, Jason, 2020. "Location, taxation and governments: An exchange theory of intellectual property," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 266-283.
    4. Carl Benedikt Frey & Atif Ansar & Sacha Wunsch-Vincent, 2014. "Defining and measuring the 'Market for Brands': Are emerging economies catching up?," WIPO Economic Research Working Papers 21, World Intellectual Property Organization - Economics and Statistics Division.
    5. Paul Oldham & Stephen Hall & Oscar Forero, 2013. "Biological Diversity in the Patent System," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(11), pages 1-16, November.

    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. repec:wip:wpaper:3 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Jean-François Sattin, 2016. "Exploring the survival of patent licensing: some evidence from French foreign agreements," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 610-630, June.
    3. Arora, Ashish & Gambardella, Alfonso, 2010. "The Market for Technology," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 641-678, Elsevier.
    4. Elif Bascavusoglu & Maria Pluvia Zuniga, 2005. "The effects of intellectual property protection on international knowledge contracting," Cahiers de la Maison des Sciences Economiques bla05009, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1).
    5. Kelchtermans, Stijn & Leten, Bart & Rabijns, Maarten & Riccaboni, Massimo, 2022. "Do licensors learn from out-licensing? Empirical evidence from the pharmaceutical industry," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    6. Preet S Aulakh & Marshall S Jiang & Yigang Pan, 2010. "International technology licensing: Monopoly rents, transaction costs and exclusive rights," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(4), pages 587-605, May.
    7. Anja, Breitwieser & Neil, Foster, 2012. "Intellectual property rights, innovation and technology transfer: a survey," MPRA Paper 36094, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Suma Athreye & Sandeep Kapur, 2015. "Capital and Technology Flows: changing technology-acquisition strategies in developing countries," Birkbeck Working Papers in Economics and Finance 1511, Birkbeck, Department of Economics, Mathematics & Statistics.
    9. Gao, Wenlian & Chou, Julia, 2015. "Innovation efficiency, global diversification, and firm value," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 278-298.
    10. repec:dau:papers:123456789/7117 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Gambardella, Alfonso & Giuri, Paola & Luzzi, Alessandra, 2007. "The market for patents in Europe," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 1163-1183, October.
    12. Karen Ruckman & Ian McCarthy, 2017. "Why do some patents get licensed while others do not?," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 26(4), pages 667-688.
    13. Biancini, Sara & Bombarda, Pamela, 2021. "Intellectual property rights, multinational firms and technology transfers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 191-210.
    14. Jeffrey J. Reuer & Ramakrishna Devarakonda, 2017. "Partner Selection in R&D Collaborations: Effects of Affiliations with Venture Capitalists," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(3), pages 574-595, June.
    15. Ashish Arora & Marco Ceccagnoli, 2006. "Patent Protection, Complementary Assets, and Firms' Incentives for Technology Licensing," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(2), pages 293-308, February.
    16. Fosfuri, Andrea, 2004. "Determinants of international activity: evidence from the chemical processing industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1599-1614, December.
    17. Seongkyoon Jeong & Sungki Lee & Yeonbae Kim, 2013. "Licensing versus selling in transactions for exploiting patented technological knowledge assets in the markets for technology," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 251-272, June.
    18. Fabrizio Cesaroni, 2001. "Technology Strategies in the Knowldge Economy. The Licensing Activity of Himont," LEM Papers Series 2001/18, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    19. Sweet, Cassandra Mehlig & Eterovic Maggio, Dalibor Sacha, 2015. "Do Stronger Intellectual Property Rights Increase Innovation?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 665-677.
    20. Kukharskyy, Bohdan, 2020. "A tale of two property rights: Knowledge, physical assets, and multinational firm boundaries," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    21. Kamal Saggi, 2016. "Trade, Intellectual Property Rights, and the World Trade Organization," Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers 16-00014, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics.
    22. Cantner, Uwe & Graf, Holger, 2006. "The network of innovators in Jena: An application of social network analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 463-480, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    International licensing; R&D services; technology transfer.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital

    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:wip:wpaper:03. 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: Economics and Statistics Division (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ewipoch.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.