IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/ecinnt/v24y2015i1-2p52-64.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Learning-by-exporting and innovation strategies

Author

Listed:
  • Hans Lööf
  • Pardis Nabavi Larijani
  • Gary Cook
  • Börje Johansson

Abstract

We examine the combined effect of exports, innovation and external knowledge on total factor productivity growth among manufacturing firms. This paper distinguishes between frequent and temporary exporters as well as between frequent and temporary innovators. Applying a dynamic approach on an unbalanced panel consisting of 8516 Swedish firms observed over a 12-year period, the results show that among firms with permanent presence in export markets, persistent innovators have 0.5% point higher annual productivity growth than non-innovative exporters and 0.4% higher growth compared to firms that switch between being innovative or not. A similar pattern is found for the group of companies that alternates between exporting and non-exporting; however, the differences in growth rates are not statistically significant. We also show that only persistently innovative exporters and exporters with a large fraction of exports in their sales benefit from their presence in the local milieu with high knowledge intensity.

Suggested Citation

  • Hans Lööf & Pardis Nabavi Larijani & Gary Cook & Börje Johansson, 2015. "Learning-by-exporting and innovation strategies," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1-2), pages 52-64, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ecinnt:v:24:y:2015:i:1-2:p:52-64
    DOI: 10.1080/10438599.2014.897863
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/10438599.2014.897863
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/10438599.2014.897863?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. Juan Alcácer & Michelle Gittelman, 2006. "Patent Citations as a Measure of Knowledge Flows: The Influence of Examiner Citations," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(4), pages 774-779, November.
    2. Feldman, Maryann P. & Kogler, Dieter F., 2010. "Stylized Facts in the Geography of Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 381-410, Elsevier.
    3. Rosenkopf, Lori & Tushman, Michael L, 1998. "The Coevolution of Community Networks and Technology: Lessons from the Flight Simulation Industry," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 7(2), pages 311-346, June.
    4. 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..
    5. 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.
    6. Weibull, Jorgen W., 1976. "An axiomatic approach to the measurement of accessibility," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 357-379, December.
    7. G. M. Grossman & K. Rogoff (ed.), 1995. "Handbook of International Economics," Handbook of International Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 3, number 3.
    8. Börje Johansson & Johan Klaesson & Michael Olsson, 2002. "Time distances and labor market integration," Papers in Regional Science, Springer;Regional Science Association International, vol. 81(3), pages 305-327.
    9. Robert M. Grant, 1996. "Prospering in Dynamically-Competitive Environments: Organizational Capability as Knowledge Integration," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(4), pages 375-387, August.
    10. Paul Almeida & Bruce Kogut, 1999. "Localization of Knowledge and the Mobility of Engineers in Regional Networks," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 45(7), pages 905-917, July.
    11. Raymond Vernon, 1966. "International Investment and International Trade in the Product Cycle," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 80(2), pages 190-207.
    12. James Levinsohn & Amil Petrin, 2003. "Estimating Production Functions Using Inputs to Control for Unobservables," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(2), pages 317-341.
    13. Martin Andersson & Hans Lööf, 2009. "Learning‐by‐Exporting Revisited: The Role of Intensity and Persistence," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 111(4), pages 893-916, December.
    14. Bee Yan Aw & Mark J. Roberts & Tor Winston, 2007. "Export Market Participation, Investments in R&D and Worker Training, and the Evolution of Firm Productivity," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 83-104, January.
    15. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    16. Robert M. Salomon & J. Myles Shaver, 2005. "Learning by Exporting: New Insights from Examining Firm Innovation," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(2), pages 431-460, June.
    17. Lori Rosenkopf & Paul Almeida, 2003. "Overcoming Local Search Through Alliances and Mobility," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(6), pages 751-766, June.
    18. Nagaoka, Sadao & Motohashi, Kazuyuki & Goto, Akira, 2010. "Patent Statistics as an Innovation Indicator," 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 1083-1127, Elsevier.
    19. Emmanuel Duguet & Megan MacGarvie, 2005. "How well do patent citations measure flows of technology? Evidence from French innovation surveys," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(5), pages 375-393.
    20. Hobday, Mike, 1995. "East Asian latecomer firms: Learning the technology of electronics," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 23(7), pages 1171-1193, July.
    21. Manuel Trajtenberg & Adam B. Jaffe & Michael S. Fogarty, 2000. "Knowledge Spillovers and Patent Citations: Evidence from a Survey of Inventors," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(2), pages 215-218, May.
    22. Lööf, Hans & Nabavi, Pardis & Johansson, Börje, 2012. "How can firm benefit from access to knowledge-intensive producer services?," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 283, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, revised 11 Aug 2014.
    23. Jože P. Damijan & Črt Kostevc & Sašo Polanec, 2010. "From Innovation to Exporting or Vice Versa?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 374-398, March.
    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. Trinh, Long, 2015. "Dynamics of innovation and internationalization among Vietnamese SMEs," MPRA Paper 68308, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 26 Nov 2015.
    2. Hans Lööf & Ingrid Viklund‐Ros, 2020. "Board of directors and export spillovers: What is the impact on extensive margins of trade?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(5), pages 1188-1215, May.
    3. Ornella Wanda Maietta & Fernanda Mazzotta, 2018. "Firm Survival and Innovation: Knowledge Context Matters!," CSEF Working Papers 496, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    4. Stefano Iandolo & Anna Maria Ferragina, 2019. "Does persistence in internationalization and innovation influence firms’ performance?," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 46(7), pages 1345-1364, November.
    5. Esra Balli & Çiler Sigeze, 2017. "The Nexus Between Research And Development And Export Decision: The Case Of Turkey," International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR), International Hellenic University (IHU), Kavala Campus, Greece (formerly Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology - EMaTTech), vol. 11(1), pages 34-41, December.
    6. Claudio Fassio, 2018. "Export-led innovation: the role of export destinations," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(1), pages 149-171.
    7. Forgione, Antonio Fabio & Migliardo, Carlo, 2023. "Mafia risk perception: Evaluating the effect of organized crime on firm technical efficiency and investment proclivity," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    8. Cristiano Antonelli & Christophe Feder, 2021. "Schumpeterian loops in international trade: the evidence of the oecd countries," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 799-820, July.
    9. Trinh, Long Q., 2016. "Dynamics of Innovation and Internationalization among Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Viet Nam," ADBI Working Papers 580, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    10. Cristiano Antonelli & Christophe Feder, 2021. "The Schumpeterian creative response: export and innovation: evidence for OECD countries 1995–2015," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 38(3), pages 803-821, October.
    11. Gregorio Sánchez-Marín & María Pemartín & Joaquín Monreal-Pérez, 2020. "The influence of family involvement and generational stage on learning-by-exporting among family firms," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 311-334, February.
    12. Fang Wang & Zhaoyuan Xu & Xiaoyong Dai, 2023. "Is learning by exporting technology specific? Evidence from Chinese firms," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(2), pages 275-304, February.
    13. Josep Tomàs-Porres & Agustí Segarra-Blasco & Mercedes Teruel, 2023. "Export and variability in the innovative status," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 13(2), pages 257-279, June.

    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. Lööf, Hans & Nabavi, Pardis, 2013. "Learning and Productivity of Swedish Exporting Firms: The importance of Innovation Efforts and the Geography of Innovation," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 296, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    2. Richard Harris & John Moffat, 2011. "R&D, Innovation and Exporting," SERC Discussion Papers 0073, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    3. Sourafel Girma & Holger Görg & Aoife Hanley, 2008. "R&D and Exporting: A Comparison of British and Irish Firms," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 144(4), pages 750-773, December.
    4. Fang Wang & Zhaoyuan Xu & Xiaoyong Dai, 2023. "Is learning by exporting technology specific? Evidence from Chinese firms," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(2), pages 275-304, February.
    5. Christopher F. Baum & Mustafa Caglayan & Oleksandr Talavera, 2016. "R&D Expenditures and Geographical Sales Diversification," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 84(2), pages 197-221, March.
    6. David Aristei & Davide Castellani & Chiara Franco, 2013. "Firms’ exporting and importing activities: is there a two-way relationship?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 149(1), pages 55-84, March.
    7. Stefano Iandolo & Anna Maria Ferragina, 2019. "Does persistence in internationalization and innovation influence firms’ performance?," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 46(7), pages 1345-1364, November.
    8. Francesco Lamperti & Franco Malerba & Roberto Mavilia & Giorgio Tripodi, 2019. "Does the Position in the Inter-sectoral Knowledge Space affect the International Competitiveness of Industries?," LEM Papers Series 2019/23, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    9. Stefan Wagner & Karin Hoisl & Grid Thoma, 2014. "Overcoming localization of knowledge — the role of professional service firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(11), pages 1671-1688, November.
    10. Tomasz Brodzicki, 2016. "Innovation intensity as a driver of firm’s internationalization intensity: evidence for Poland," Ekonomia journal, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, vol. 46.
    11. Francisco J. Santos-Arteaga & Celia Torrecillas & Madjid Tavana, 2019. "Dynamic effects of learning on the innovative outputs and productivity in Spanish multinational enterprises," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 97-131, February.
    12. Chandan Sharma & Ritesh Kumar Mishra, 2011. "Does export and productivity growth linkage exist? Evidence from the Indian manufacturing industry," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(6), pages 633-652, November.
    13. Singh, Jasjit, 2008. "Distributed R&D, cross-regional knowledge integration and quality of innovative output," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 77-96, February.
    14. Michael Roach & Wesley M. Cohen, 2012. "Lens or Prism? Patent Citations as a Measure of Knowledge Flows from Public Research," NBER Working Papers 18292, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Yang, Chia-Hsuan & Nugent, Rebecca & Fuchs, Erica R.H., 2016. "Gains from others’ losses: Technology trajectories and the global division of firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 724-745.
    16. Jatinder S. Sidhu & Harry R. Commandeur & Henk W. Volberda, 2007. "The Multifaceted Nature of Exploration and Exploitation: Value of Supply, Demand, and Spatial Search for Innovation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(1), pages 20-38, February.
    17. Feng Zhang & Guohua Jiang, 2019. "Combination of Complementary Technological Knowledge to Generate “Hard to Imitate” Technologies," Journal of Information & Knowledge Management (JIKM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 18(02), pages 1-24, June.
    18. Yuzhe Miao & Robert M. Salomon & Jaeyong Song, 2021. "Learning from Technologically Successful Peers: The Convergence of Asian Laggards to the Technology Frontier," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(1), pages 210-232, January.
    19. Lee Branstetter & Guangwei Li & Francisco Veloso, 2014. "The Rise of International Coinvention," NBER Chapters, in: The Changing Frontier: Rethinking Science and Innovation Policy, pages 135-168, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Dahai Fu & Yanrui Wu & Yihong Tang, 2012. "Does Innovation Matter for Chinese High-Tech Exports? A Firm-Level Analysis," Frontiers of Economics in China-Selected Publications from Chinese Universities, Higher Education Press, vol. 7(2), pages 218-245, June.

    More about this item

    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:taf:ecinnt:v:24:y:2015:i:1-2:p:52-64. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/GEIN20 .

    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.