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Product sophistication and spillovers from foreign direct investment

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  • Katharina Eck
  • Stephan Huber

Abstract

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in developing countries is often associated with higher economic growth due to knowledge and technology spillovers to local firms. One way that FDI speeds up growth is by facilitating the manufacturing of more sophisticated products by local firms. So far, there is a lack of firm-level evidence how the presence of multinational firms affects the product sophistication of firms in a developing country. The aim of this paper is to fill this gap. We compile an extensive firmproduct-level data set of Indian manufacturing firms, which we complement with information on product sophistication and spillovers from FDI. We then explore different channels through which spillovers from multinationals to local Indian firms foster the manufacturing of sophisticated products. We find evidence that spillovers through supplier linkages strongly increase the manufacturing of sophisticated products in India.

Suggested Citation

  • Katharina Eck & Stephan Huber, 2016. "Product sophistication and spillovers from foreign direct investment," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 49(4), pages 1658-1684, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:cje:issued:v:49:y:2016:i:4:p:1658-1684
    DOI: 10.1111/caje.12247
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    6. Ali, Nesma & Stiebale, Joel, 2021. "Foreign direct investment, prices and efficiency: Evidence from India," DICE Discussion Papers 363, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
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    15. Piotr Gabrielczak & Tomasz Serwach, 2017. "The impact of the euro adoption on the complexity of goods in Slovenian exports," Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci/Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, vol. 35(1), pages 45-71.
    16. Meyer, Birgit, 2020. "How deep is your love? Innovation, Upgrading and the Depth of Internationalization," VfS Annual Conference 2020 (Virtual Conference): Gender Economics 224584, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
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    19. Subash Sasidharan & Ketan Reddy, 2021. "Innovation, Product Sophistication and Export Market Survival: A Study of Indian Manufacturing," Working Papers DP-2021-45, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    20. Sena Kimm Gnangnon, 2022. "Effect of economic complexity on services export diversification: do foreign direct investment inflows matter?," International Journal of Development Issues, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(3), pages 413-437, June.
    21. S K Gnangnon, 2022. "Effect of the Utilisation of Unilateral Trade? Preferences on Foreign Direct Investment Flows to Beneficiary Countries," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 27(1), pages 39-73, March.
    22. Jordaan,Jacob Arie & Douw,Willem & Qiang,Zhenwei, 2020. "Multinational Corporation Affiliates, Backward Linkages, and Productivity Spillovers in Developing and Emerging Economies : Evidence and Policy Making," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9364, The World Bank.
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