IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/streco/v23y2012i4p504-515.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Drivers of technological capabilities in developing countries: An econometric analysis of Argentina, Brazil and Chile

Author

Listed:
  • Molina-Domene, María A.
  • Pietrobelli, Carlo

Abstract

This paper contributes to the literature that analyses the determinants and measurement of Technological Capabilities (TCs) with empirical evidence on Argentina, Brazil and Chile. Based on the World Bank's Investment Climate database, the study covers firms from the manufacturing sector. We first construct a Capability Score to provide a preliminary measure of Technological Capabilities at the firm level. We then test it econometrically to explore the determinants of TCs and exports and evaluate their reciprocal relationship through a Two Stage Probit. Our results show that exports and TCs significantly and positively influence each other in some of these countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Molina-Domene, María A. & Pietrobelli, Carlo, 2012. "Drivers of technological capabilities in developing countries: An econometric analysis of Argentina, Brazil and Chile," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 504-515.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:streco:v:23:y:2012:i:4:p:504-515
    DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2011.11.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0954349X11000749
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.strueco.2011.11.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

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

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ganeshan Wignaraja, 2002. "Firm Size, Technological Capabilities and Market-oriented Policies in Mauritius," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 87-104.
    2. Ganeshan Wignaraja & Gerrishon Ikiara, 1999. "Adjustment, Technological Capabilities and Enterprise Dynamics in Kenya," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Sanjaya Lall (ed.), The Technological Response to Import Liberalization in SubSaharan Africa, chapter 3, pages 57-111, Palgrave Macmillan.
    3. Figueiredo, Paulo N., 2008. "Industrial Policy Changes and Firm-Level Technological Capability Development: Evidence from Northern Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 55-88, January.
    4. Andrew Bernard & Joachim Wagner, 1997. "Exports and success in German manufacturing," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 133(1), pages 134-157, March.
    5. Jose Miguel Benavente & Gustavo Crespi & Jorge Katz & Giovanni Stumpo, 1997. "New problems and opportunities for industrial development in Latin America," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 261-277.
    6. Joachim Wagner, 2016. "Exports and Productivity: A Survey of the Evidence from Firm Level Data," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 1, pages 3-41, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    7. Lall, Sanjaya, 1992. "Technological capabilities and industrialization," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 165-186, February.
    8. Teitel, Simon, 1984. "Technology creation in semi-industrial economies," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1-2), pages 39-61.
    9. Katz, Jorge, 2001. "Structural reforms and technological behaviour: The sources and nature of technological change in Latin America in the 1990s," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 1-19, January.
    10. Carlo Pietrobelli, 1998. "Industry, Competitiveness and Technological Capabilities in Chile," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-26361-5, October.
    11. Borjas, George J. & Sueyoshi, Glenn T., 1994. "A two-stage estimator for probit models with structural group effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1-2), pages 165-182.
    12. Iammarino, Simona & Piva, Mariacristina & Vivarelli, Marco & Von Tunzelmann, Nick, 2009. "Technological Capabilities and Patterns of Cooperation of UK Firms: A Regional Investigation," IZA Discussion Papers 4129, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Girvan, Norman P. & Marcelle, Gillian, 1990. "Overcoming technological dependency: The case of Electric Arc (Jamaica) Ltd., a small firm in a small developing country," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 91-107, January.
    14. 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.
    15. Bernard, Andrew B. & Bradford Jensen, J., 1999. "Exceptional exporter performance: cause, effect, or both?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 1-25, February.
    16. Paulo N. Figueiredo, 2001. "Technological Learning and Competitive Performance," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2373.
    17. Sanjaya Lall, 1987. "Learning to Industrialize," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-18798-0, October.
    18. Andrew B. Bernard & J. Bradford Jensen, 2004. "Why Some Firms Export," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(2), pages 561-569, May.
    19. Geroski, P A, 1990. "Innovation, Technological Opportunity, and Market Structure," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 42(3), pages 586-602, July.
    20. Sonali Deraniyagala & Haji H. H. Semboja, 1999. "Trade Liberalization, Firm Performance and Technology Upgrading in Tanzania," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Sanjaya Lall (ed.), The Technological Response to Import Liberalization in SubSaharan Africa, chapter 4, pages 112-147, Palgrave Macmillan.
    21. Goity, Gregorio & Gutkowski, Mirta & Katz, Jorge & Rodrigues, Mario, 1978. "Productivity, technology and domestic efforts in research and development (the growth-path of a Rayon plant)," Series Históricas 9449, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    22. Gustavo Crespi & Jorge Katz, 1999. "R&D expenditure, market structure and "technological regimes" in Chilean manufacturing industry," Estudios de Economia, University of Chile, Department of Economics, vol. 26(2 Year 19), pages 163-186, December.
    23. Wignaraja, Ganeshan, 2008. "FDI and Innovation as Drivers of Export Behaviour: Firm-level Evidence from East Asia," MERIT Working Papers 2008-061, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    24. Ruby Gonsen, 1998. "Technological Capabilities in Developing Countries," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-26369-1, October.
    25. Sanjaya Lall & Giorgio Barba Navaretti & Simón Teitel & Ganeshan Wignaraja, 1994. "Technology and Enterprise Development," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-13925-5, October.
    26. Katz, Jorge M., 1984. "Domestic technological innovations and dynamic comparative advantage : Further reflections on a comparative case-study program," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1-2), pages 13-37.
    27. Amemiya, Takeshi, 1978. "The Estimation of a Simultaneous Equation Generalized Probit Model," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(5), pages 1193-1205, September.
    28. Sanjaya Lall & Wolfram W. Latsch, 1999. "Import Liberalization and Industrial Performance: Theory and Evidence," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Sanjaya Lall (ed.), The Technological Response to Import Liberalization in SubSaharan Africa, chapter 2, pages 26-56, Palgrave Macmillan.
    29. Figueiredo, Paulo N., 2002. "Does technological learning pay off? Inter-firm differences in technological capability-accumulation paths and operational performance improvement," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 73-94, January.
    30. Wignaraja, Ganeshan, 2008. "Foreign ownership, technological capabilities and clothing exports in Sri Lanka," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 29-39, February.
    31. Goldberg , Mike & Palladini, Eric, 2008. "Chile : a strategy to promote innovative small and medium enterprises," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4518, The World Bank.
    32. Costa, Ionara & Marin, Anabel, 2007. "Foreign-owned firms and technological capabilities in the Argentinean manufacturing industry," MERIT Working Papers 2007-036, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    33. Roberto Alvarez & Ricardo A. López, 2005. "Exporting and performance: evidence from Chilean plants," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(4), pages 1384-1400, November.
    34. Omar M. G. Keshk, 2003. "CDSIMEQ: A program to implement two-stage probit least squares," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 3(2), pages 157-167, June.
    35. Costa, Ionara & de Queiroz, Sergio Robles Reis, 2002. "Foreign direct investment and technological capabilities in Brazilian industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(8-9), pages 1431-1443, December.
    36. Romijn, Henny, 1997. "Acquisition of technological capability in development: A quantitative case study of Pakistan's capital goods sector," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 359-377, March.
    37. Giuliana Battisti & Carlo Pietrobelli, 2000. "Intra-Industry Gaps in Technology and Investments in Technological Capabilities: Firm-level evidence from Chile," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(2), pages 253-269.
    38. Iammarino, Simona & Padilla-Pérez, Ramon & von Tunzelmann, Nick, 2008. "Technological Capabilities and Global-Local Interactions: The Electronics Industry in Two Mexican Regions," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 1980-2003, October.
    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. Andrea Bonilla, 2014. "External vulnerabilities and economic integration. Is the Union of South American Nations a promising project ?," Working Papers halshs-00945044, HAL.
    2. King Yoong Lim & Diego Morris, 2023. "Firm‐level impact of the global financial crisis: Evidence on innovation from Latin America," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 3902-3917, October.
    3. Andrea Bonilla Bolanos, 2014. "External Vulnerabilities And Economic Integration: Is The Union Of South American Nations A Promising Project?," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 39(2), pages 97-131, June.
    4. Tarighi, Sina & Shavvalpour, Saeed, 2021. "Technological development of E&P companies in developing countries: An integrative approach to define and prioritize customized elements of technological capability in EOR," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    5. Aistleitner, Matthias & Gräbner, Claudius & Hornykewycz, Anna, 2021. "Theory and empirics of capability accumulation: Implications for macroeconomic modeling," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(6).
    6. Sidheswar Panda & Ruchi Sharma, 2023. "Does Innovation Spur Export Performance across Countries? An Investigation from Meta-regression Analysis," Millennial Asia, , vol. 14(3), pages 341-359, September.
    7. Egbetokun, Abiodun A., 2015. "Interactive learning and firm-level capabilities in latecomer settings: The Nigerian manufacturing industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 231-241.

    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. Tarighi, Sina & Shavvalpour, Saeed, 2021. "Technological development of E&P companies in developing countries: An integrative approach to define and prioritize customized elements of technological capability in EOR," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    2. Richard Harris & John Moffat, 2011. "R&D, Innovation and Exporting," SERC Discussion Papers 0073, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    3. Neil Foster-McGregor, 2012. "Innovation and Technology Transfer across Countries," wiiw Research Reports 380, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    4. Wignaraja, Ganeshan, 2012. "Do Exporting Firms in the People’s Republic of China Innovate?," ADBI Working Papers 365, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    5. Peerally, Jahan Ara & Cantwell, John A, 2012. "Changes in Trade Policies and the Heterogeneity of Domestic and Multinational Firms’ Strategic Response: The Effects on Firm-Level Capabilities," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 469-485.
    6. Ganeshan Wignaraja, 2013. "Understanding Innovation in Production Networks in East Asia," Trade Working Papers 23395, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    7. Wignaraja, Ganeshan, 2008. "Foreign ownership, technological capabilities and clothing exports in Sri Lanka," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 29-39, February.
    8. repec:wsr:fiwspe:y:2012:i:005 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Tarlok Singh, 2010. "Does International Trade Cause Economic Growth? A Survey," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(11), pages 1517-1564, November.
    10. Wignaraja, Ganeshan, 2012. "Innovation, learning, and exporting in China: Does R&D or a technology index matter?," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 224-233.
    11. Wignaraja, Ganeshan, 2008. "FDI and Innovation as Drivers of Export Behaviour: Firm-level Evidence from East Asia," MERIT Working Papers 2008-061, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    12. Francesco Serti & Chiara Tomasi, 2008. "Self-Selection and Post-Entry Effects of Exports: Evidence from Italian Manufacturing Firms," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 144(4), pages 660-694, December.
    13. Ma, Yue & Tang, Heiwai & Zhang, Yifan, 2014. "Factor Intensity, product switching, and productivity: Evidence from Chinese exporters," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 349-362.
    14. Kazuhiko Yokota & Akinori Tomohara, 2009. "Extending the Learning-By-Exporting Hypothesis: Introducing a Credit Constraint," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 15(2), pages 169-177, May.
    15. repec:kap:iaecre:v:15:y:2009:i:2:p:169-177 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Matthew A. Cole & Robert J. R. Elliott & Supreeya Virakul, 2010. "Firm Heterogeneity, Origin of Ownership and Export Participation," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 264-291, February.
    17. Ana M. Fernandes & Alberto E. Isgut, 2015. "Learning-by-Exporting Effects: Are They for Real?," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(1), pages 65-89, January.
    18. Flora Bellone & Patrick Musso & Lionel Nesta & Michel Quere, 2008. "The U-Shaped Productivity Dynamics of French Exporters," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 144(4), pages 636-659, December.
    19. Thorsten Schank & Claus Schnabel & Joachim Wagner, 2016. "Do Exporters Really Pay Higher Wages? First Evidence from German Linked Employer–Employee Data," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 5, pages 177-213, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    20. Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Monika Schnitzer, 2013. "Financial Constraints And Innovation: Why Poor Countries Don'T Catch Up," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 11(5), pages 1115-1152, October.
    21. Ricardo A. López, 2005. "Trade and Growth: Reconciling the Macroeconomic and Microeconomic Evidence," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(4), pages 623-648, September.
    22. Claudio Bravo-Ortega & Jose Miguel Benavente & Álvaro González, 2014. "Innovation, Exports, and Productivity: Learning and Self-Selection in Chile," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(1S), pages 68-95, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Technological capabilities; Manufacturing; Exports; Latin America; Innovation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • O54 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean

    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:eee:streco:v:23:y:2012:i:4:p:504-515. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/525148 .

    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.