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Does FDI spur innovation, productivity and knowledge sourcing by incumbent firms? Evidence from manufacturing industry in Estonia

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  • Priit Vahter

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Abstract

Does FDI affect productivity growth, innovation, and knowledge sourcing activities of domestic firms? This study employs detailed firm-level panel-data from Estonia???s manufacturing sector to investigate different channels through which FDI can affect domestic firms. I use instrumental variables approach to identify the effects. I find no evidence of an effect of FDI entry on local incumbents??? TFP and labour productivityg rowth in the short term. The effect on productivity does not depend on the local firms??? distance to the productivity frontier. However, there are positive spillovers on process innovation. The results show significant positive correlation between the entry of FDI in a sector and the more direct measures of spillovers in subsequent periods. This is consistent with the view that FDI inflow to a sector intensifies knowledge flows to domestic firms.

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Paper provided by William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan in its series William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series with number wp986.

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Length: pages
Date of creation: 01 Apr 2010
Handle: RePEc:wdi:papers:2010-986
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Keywords: foreign direct investment; productivity; innovation; learning;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
  • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
  • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
  • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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Cited by:

  1. ITO Keiko, 2011. "Entry of Foreign Multinational Firms and Productivity Growth of Domestic Firms: The case of Japanese firms," Discussion papers 11063, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
  2. Robert W. R. Price & Andreas Wörgötter, 2011. "Estonia: Making the Most of Globalisation," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 876, OECD Publishing.
  3. MILEA, Camelia, 2015. "Connections Between Foreign Direct Investments And Research-Developmentinnovation Activity," Studii Financiare (Financial Studies), Centre of Financial and Monetary Research "Victor Slavescu", vol. 19(1), pages 102-120.
  4. Priit Vahter, 2011. "Learning By Exporting: Evidence Based on Data of Knowledge Flows from Innovation Surveys in Estonia," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp1011, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.

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