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Exporting ideas: knowledge flows from expanding trade in goods

Author

Listed:
  • Aghion, Philippe
  • Bergeaud, Antonin
  • Gigout, Timothee
  • Lequien, Matthieu
  • Malitz, Marc

Abstract

We examine the effect of entry by French firms into a new export market on the dynamics of their patents' citations received from that destination. Applying a difference-in-differences identification strategy with a staggered treatment design, we show that: (i) entering a new foreign market has a significant impact on the long-run flow of citations; (ii) the impact is mostly driven by the extensive margin; (iii) inventors in destination countries patent mostly in products that do not directly compete with those of the exporting firm; (iv) the spillover intensity decreases with the technological distance between the exporting firm and the destination.

Suggested Citation

  • Aghion, Philippe & Bergeaud, Antonin & Gigout, Timothee & Lequien, Matthieu & Malitz, Marc, 2023. "Exporting ideas: knowledge flows from expanding trade in goods," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121291, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:121291
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    File URL: https://researchonline.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/121291/
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Juan Alcácer & Michelle Gittelman, 2006. "Patent Citations as a Measure of Knowledge Flows: The Influence of Examiner Citations," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(4), pages 774-779, November.
    2. Megan MacGarvie, 2006. "Do Firms Learn from International Trade?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(1), pages 46-60, February.
    3. David Autor & David Dorn & Gordon H. Hanson & Gary Pisano & Pian Shu, 2020. "Foreign Competition and Domestic Innovation: Evidence from US Patents," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 357-374, September.
    4. Giovanni Peri, 2005. "Determinants of Knowledge Flows and Their Effect on Innovation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(2), pages 308-322, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bai, Yan & Jin, Keyu & Lu, Dan & Wang, Hanxi, 2025. "Optimal trade policy with international technology diffusion," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    2. Boeing, Philipp & Mueller, Elisabeth, 2024. "Global influence of inventions and technology sovereignty," ZEW policy briefs 01/2024, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    3. Liu, Bin & Liu, Chunmiao & Li, Chuanchuan & Chen, Xiao, 2026. "The impact of digital trade rules on firms' international joint patent applications," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(1).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • 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
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade

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