IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/noj/journl/v27y2001p97-120.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Technology Spillovers: A Motive for Foreign Direct Investment?

Author

Listed:
  • Leo A. Grünfeld

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between the R&D activity in a country and the inflow of foreign capital through foreign direct investment and foreign ownership. The idea that firms invest abroad in order to more easily absorb the knowledge and technology of foreign firms is tested empirically using a unique firm level data set covering foreign ownership and R&D in all Norwegian manufacturing firms over the period 1990 to 1996. The study gives no clear support for such a motive behind foreign ownership. On the contrary, the econometric study indicates that foreign investors predominantly try to exploit their technological advantages in the Norwegian market. The results also show that the presence of foreign ownership is more volatile in highly R&D intensive firms. We claim that this is due to the fact that large R&D investment often result in large losses as well as gains, which again attracts or repels foreign owner interests.

Suggested Citation

  • Leo A. Grünfeld, 2001. "Technology Spillovers: A Motive for Foreign Direct Investment?," Nordic Journal of Political Economy, Nordic Journal of Political Economy, vol. 27, pages 97-120.
    • Handle: RePEc:noj:journl:v:27:y:2001:p:97-120
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nopecjournal.org/NOPEC_2001_a06.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Neven, D. & Siotis, G., 1996. "Technology sourcing and FDI in the EC: An empirical evaluation," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 543-560, July.
    2. Motta, Massimo, 1992. "Multinational firms and the tariff-jumping argument : A game theoretic analysis with some unconventional conclusions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 1557-1571, December.
    3. Kogut, Bruce & Chang, Sea Jin, 1991. "Technological Capabilities and Japanese Foreign Direct Investment in the United States," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 73(3), pages 401-413, August.
    4. De Bondt, Raymond & Sleuwaegen, Leo & Veugelers, Reinhilde, 1988. "Innovative strategic groups in multinational industries," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 905-925, April.
    5. Margaret J. Simpson, 1994. "Foreign Control and Norwegian Manufacturing Performance," Discussion Papers 111, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    6. Suzumura, Kotaro, 1992. "Cooperative and Noncooperative R&D in an Oligopoly with Spillovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(5), pages 1307-1320, December.
    7. Krugman, Paul, 1979. "A Model of Innovation, Technology Transfer, and the World Distribution of Income," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(2), pages 253-266, April.
    8. repec:bla:scandj:v:101:y:1999:i:4:p:617-30 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Jan Fagerberg, 1999. "The Economic Challenge for Europe: Adapting to Innovation-Based Growth," Working Papers 2, Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo.
    10. Bruce A. Blonigen & Christopher T. Taylor, 2000. "R&D Intensity and Acquisitions in High‐Technology Industries: Evidence from the US Electronic and Electrical Equipment Industries," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 47-70, March.
    11. Bernstein, Jeffrey I. & Nadiri, M. Ishaq, 1988. "Interindustry R&D, Rates of Return and Production in High-Tech Industries," Working Papers 88-04, C.V. Starr Center for Applied Economics, New York University.
    12. Soete, Luc & Verspagen, Bart & ter Weel, Bas, 2010. "Systems of Innovation," 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 1159-1180, Elsevier.
    13. Barrell, Ray & Pain, Nigel, 1999. "Domestic institutions, agglomerations and foreign direct investment in Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(4-6), pages 925-934, April.
    14. Bernstein, Jeffrey I & Nadiri, M Ishaq, 1988. "Interindustry R&D Spillovers, Rates of Return, and Production in High-Tech Industries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(2), pages 429-434, May.
    15. Cohen, Wesley M & Levinthal, Daniel A, 1989. "Innovation and Learning: The Two Faces of R&D," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(397), pages 569-596, September.
    16. Haddad, Mona & Harrison, Ann, 1993. "Are there positive spillovers from direct foreign investment? : Evidence from panel data for Morocco," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 51-74, October.
    17. Adam B. Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg, 1996. "Flows of Knowledge from Universities and Federal Labs: Modeling the Flowof Patent Citations Over Time and Across Institutional and Geographic Boundari," NBER Working Papers 5712, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Wilfred J. Ethier, 1986. "The Multinational Firm," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 101(4), pages 805-833.
    19. Jan Fagerberg & Paolo Guerrieri & Bart Verspagen (ed.), 1999. "The Economic Challenge for Europe," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1821.
    20. Petit, Maria-Luisa & Sanna-Randaccio, Francesca, 2000. "Endogenous R&D and foreign direct investment in international oligopolies," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 339-367, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. André van Stel & Jolanda Hessels & Dirk De Clercq, 2006. "Knowledge spillovers and entrepreneurs' export orientation," Scales Research Reports H200619, EIM Business and Policy Research.
    2. Elif Bascavusoglu-Moreau & Qian Cher Li, 2013. "Knowledge Spillovers & Sources of Knowledge in the Manufacturing Sector: Literature Review & Empirical Evidence for the UK," Working Papers wp451, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    3. Nigel Driffield & James H. Love & Karl Taylor, 2009. "Productivity And Labour Demand Effects Of Inward And Outward Foreign Direct Investment On Uk Industry," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 77(2), pages 171-203, March.
    4. Chiara Franco & Francesco Rentocchini & Giuseppe Vittucci Marzetti, 2008. "Why do firms invest abroad? An analysis of the motives underlying Foreign Direct Investments," Department of Economics Working Papers 0817, Department of Economics, University of Trento, Italia.
    5. Thomas Doring & Jan Schnellenbach, 2006. "What do we know about geographical knowledge spillovers and regional growth?: A survey of the literature," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(3), pages 375-395.
    6. Kresimir Zigic, 2011. "Strategic Interactions in Markets with Innovative Activity: The Cases of Strategic Trade Policy and Market Leadership," CERGE-EI Books, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague, edition 1, number b06, May.
    7. Sudheer Gupta, 2008. "Research Note—Channel Structure with Knowledge Spillovers," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(2), pages 247-261, 03-04.
    8. Maurseth, Per Botolf, 2001. "Convergence, geography and technology," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 247-276, September.
    9. Bertrand, Olivier, 2009. "Effects of foreign acquisitions on R&D activity: Evidence from firm-level data for France," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 1021-1031, July.
    10. Chen-Lung Chin & Picheng Lee & Hsin-Yi Chi & Asokan Anandarajan, 2006. "Patent Citation, R&D Spillover, and Tobin's Q: Evidence from Taiwan Semiconductor Industry," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 67-84, February.
    11. Maria Luisa Petit & Francesca Sanna-Randaccio & Roberta Sestini, 2012. "R&D and foreign direct investment with asymmetric spillovers," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(2), pages 125-150, October.
    12. Grunfeld, Leo A., 2003. "Meet me halfway but don't rush: absorptive capacity and strategic R&D investment revisited," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 21(8), pages 1091-1109, October.
    13. Bertrand, Olivier & Zuniga, Pluvia, 2006. "R&D and M&A: Are cross-border M&A different? An investigation on OECD countries," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 401-423, March.
    14. Alessandro STERLACCHINI, 2006. "Innovation, Knowledge and Regional Economic Performances: Regularities and Differences in the EU," Working Papers 260, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    15. Franco Malerba & Maria Mancusi & Fabio Montobbio, 2013. "Innovation, international R&D spillovers and the sectoral heterogeneity of knowledge flows," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 149(4), pages 697-722, December.
    16. Bart Los, 2004. "Identification of strategic industries: A dynamic perspective," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 83(4), pages 669-698, October.
    17. Hess, Sebastian, 2005. ""In The Jungle": Towards a Common Documentation Standard for CGE-Based Experiments," Conference papers 331354, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    18. Ester G. Silva & Aurora A. C. Teixeira, 2011. "Does structure influence growth? A panel data econometric assessment of "relatively less developed" countries, 1979--2003," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 20(2), pages 457-510, April.
    19. Kyoji Fukao & Victoria Kravtsova & Kentaro Nakajima, 2014. "How important is geographical agglomeration to factory efficiency in Japan’s manufacturing sector?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 52(3), pages 659-696, May.
    20. Harhoff, Dietmar, 1991. "R&D incentives and spillovers in a two-industry model," ZEW Discussion Papers 91-06, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D

    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:noj:journl:v:27:y:2001:p:97-120. 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: Halvor Mehlum (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nopecjournal.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.