IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cpr/ceprdp/13739.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

International Business Travel and Technology Sourcing

Author

Listed:
  • Keller, Wolfgang
  • Hovhannisyan, Nune

Abstract

Access to new foreign technology is often central to countries' development strategies. However, we know very little about the quantitative impact of technology sourcing. In this paper, we study the role of outward international business travel for technology sourcing and innovation by examining whether patenting in European regions is affected by the number of business travelers heading to the United States. Using European regional patent data for the years 1996 to 2010 from Eurostat and information on incoming business travelers from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Survey of International Air Traveler, we find that controlling for a region's R&D spending and size, innovation is increasing in the number of business travelers of the region to the United States. Technology sourcing through in-person business travel is not only statistically but economically significant accounting, for example, it accounts for 20% of the higher patenting in Germany's Greater Stuttgart area, compared to Portugal's Algarve region.

Suggested Citation

  • Keller, Wolfgang & Hovhannisyan, Nune, 2019. "International Business Travel and Technology Sourcing," CEPR Discussion Papers 13739, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13739
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cepr.org/publications/DP13739
    Download Restriction: CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Keller, Wolfgang, 2000. "Do Trade Patterns and Technology Flows Affect Productivity Growth?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 14(1), pages 17-47, January.
    2. John Van Reenen & Rupert Harrison & Rachel Griffith, 2006. "How Special Is the Special Relationship? Using the Impact of U.S. R&D Spillovers on U.K. Firms as a Test of Technology Sourcing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1859-1875, December.
    3. Xavier Fageda, 2017. "International Air Travel And Fdi Flows: Evidence From Barcelona," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(5), pages 858-883, November.
    4. Wolfgang Keller & Stephen R. Yeaple, 2009. "Multinational Enterprises, International Trade, and Productivity Growth: Firm-Level Evidence from the United States," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(4), pages 821-831, November.
    5. Wolfgang Keller, 2004. "International Technology Diffusion," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(3), pages 752-782, September.
    6. Keller, Wolfgang, 2010. "International Trade, Foreign Direct Investment, and Technology Spillovers," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 793-829, Elsevier.
    7. Nune Hovhannisyan & Wolfgang Keller, 2015. "International business travel: an engine of innovation?," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 75-104, March.
    8. Van Biesebroeck, Johannes, 2005. "Exporting raises productivity in sub-Saharan African manufacturing firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 373-391, December.
    9. Beata Smarzynska Javorcik, 2004. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Increase the Productivity of Domestic Firms? In Search of Spillovers Through Backward Linkages," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 605-627, June.
    10. Kun Jiang & Wolfgang Keller & Larry D. Qiu & William Ridley, 2018. "International Joint Ventures and Internal vs. External Technology Transfer: Evidence from China," CESifo Working Paper Series 7065, CESifo.
    11. De Loecker, Jan, 2007. "Do exports generate higher productivity? Evidence from Slovenia," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 69-98, September.
    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. Mariacristina Piva & Massimiliano Tani & Marco Vivarelli, 2023. "The productivity impact of short-term labor mobility across industries," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 691-705, February.
    2. Nune Hovhannisyan, 2019. "Comment on "Capturing International R&D Trade and Financing Flows: What Do Available Sources Reveal about the Structure of Knowledge-Based Global Production?"," NBER Chapters, in: Challenges of Globalization in the Measurement of National Accounts, pages 535-540, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Bian, Bo & Meier, Jean-Marie & Xu, Ting, 2021. "Cross-Border Institutions and the Globalization of Innovation," LawFin Working Paper Series 23, Goethe University, Center for Advanced Studies on the Foundations of Law and Finance (LawFin).
    4. Hani Al-Dmour & Rima Al Hasan & Motasem Thneibat & Ra’ed Masa’deh & Wafa Alkhadra & Rand Al-Dmour & Ali Alalwan, 2023. "Integrated Model for the Factors Determining the Academic’s Remote Working Productivity and Engagement: Empirical Study," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, August.

    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. Keller, Wolfgang, 2010. "International Trade, Foreign Direct Investment, and Technology Spillovers," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 793-829, Elsevier.
    2. Tica Josip & Šikić Luka, 2019. "Endogenous Convergence and International Technological Diffusion Channels," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 14(2), pages 34-53, December.
    3. Dasgupta, Kunal, 2012. "Learning and knowledge diffusion in a global economy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 323-336.
    4. Blalock, Garrick & Veloso, Francisco M., 2007. "Imports, Productivity Growth, and Supply Chain Learning," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 1134-1151, July.
    5. Neil Foster-McGregor, 2012. "Innovation and Technology Transfer across Countries," wiiw Research Reports 380, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    6. Ioannis Bournakis & Dimitris Christopoulos & Sushanta Mallick, 2015. "Knowledge Spillovers, absorptive capacity and growth: An Industry-level Analysis for OECD Countries," Working Papers 57, Queen Mary, University of London, School of Business and Management, Centre for Globalisation Research.
    7. repec:wsr:wpaper:y:2015:i:147 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Pian Shu & Claudia Steinwender, 2019. "The Impact of Trade Liberalization on Firm Productivity and Innovation," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(1), pages 39-68.
    9. Joel Blit, 2018. "Foreign R&D satellites as a medium for the international diffusion of knowledge," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 51(4), pages 1118-1150, November.
    10. Ioannis Bournakis & Dimitris Christopoulos & Sushanta Mallick, 2018. "Knowledge Spillovers And Output Per Worker: An Industry‐Level Analysis For Oecd Countries," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(2), pages 1028-1046, April.
    11. Piermartini, Roberta & Rubínová, Stela, 2014. "Knowledge spillovers through international supply chains," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2014-11, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    12. Badi H. Baltagi & Peter H. Egger & Michaela Kesina, 2016. "Firm‐Level Productivity Spillovers in China's Chemical Industry: A Spatial Hausman‐Taylor Approach," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 214-248, January.
    13. Harrison, Ann & Rodríguez-Clare, Andrés, 2010. "Trade, Foreign Investment, and Industrial Policy for Developing Countries," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Dani Rodrik & Mark Rosenzweig (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 4039-4214, Elsevier.
    14. Nune Hovhannisyan & Wolfgang Keller, 2015. "International business travel: an engine of innovation?," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 75-104, March.
    15. Yasuyuki Todo & Satoshi Shimizutani, 2008. "Overseas R&D Activities And Home Productivity Growth: Evidence From Japanese Firm‐Level Data," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(4), pages 752-777, December.
    16. Robin Kaiji Gong, 2019. "The Local Technology Spillovers of Multinational Firms," HKUST CEP Working Papers Series 201902, HKUST Center for Economic Policy.
    17. Jan Van Hove, 2008. "The Impact of R&D Spillovers on Export Value: Does the Transmission Channel matter?," Working Papers 2008.3, International Network for Economic Research - INFER.
    18. Klein, Michael A., 2019. "Establishment productivity convergence and the effect of foreign ownership at the frontier," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 245-260.
    19. Konstantins Benkovskis & Jaan Masso & Olegs Tkacevs & Priit Vahter & Naomitsu Yashiro, 2020. "Export and productivity in global value chains: comparative evidence from Latvia and Estonia," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 156(3), pages 557-577, August.
    20. JINJI Naoto & ZHANG Xingyuan & HARUNA Shoji, 2011. "Does the Structure of Multinational Enterprises' Activity Affect Technology Spillovers?," Discussion papers 11027, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    21. Sari, Dyah Wulan & Restikasari, Wenny & Ajija, Shochrul Rohmatul & Tarbiyah Islamia, Haura Azzara & Muchtar, Darmawati, 2021. "The Impacts of Foreign Direct Investment and Export Expansion on the Performance of the High-Tech Manufacturing Industry," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 55(2), pages 91-105.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Innovation; European regions; Patenting; R&d;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O22 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Project Analysis
    • F2 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:cpr:ceprdp:13739. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cepr.org .

    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.