IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/oxdevs/v25y1997i2p189-207.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The determinants of technological capability: A cross-country analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Jeffrey James
  • Henny Romijn

Abstract

Existing studies aimed at explaining cross-country differences in technological capabilities among developing countries have tended to use crude and unrealistic proxies—such as expenditure on R&D or the number of registered patents—which bear little or no relation to the findings from firm-level studies. This paper introduces a more realistic measure of technological capability based on an index developed by UNIDO, which is related to the complexity involved in the manufacture of engineering goods. The significance of this measure derives from the fact that in developing countries, the mastery of known technologies is far more important than the ability to generate new technologies through formal R&D. A regression analysis carried out with this measure points to the significance of market size, the stock of scientists and engineers and trade policy orientation as important determinants of cross-country differences in this measure of production capability.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeffrey James & Henny Romijn, 1997. "The determinants of technological capability: A cross-country analysis," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(2), pages 189-207.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:oxdevs:v:25:y:1997:i:2:p:189-207
    DOI: 10.1080/13600819708424129
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13600819708424129
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/13600819708424129?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. Sanjaya Lall, 1987. "Learning to Industrialize," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-18798-0, March.
    2. Romijn, H.A., 1996. "Acquisition of technologica capability in small firms in developing countries," Other publications TiSEM 870189ab-4c37-4117-adab-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    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. Ganeshan Wignaraja & Jens Krüger & Anna Mae Tuazon, 2013. "Production Networks, Profits, and Innovative Activity : Evidence from Malaysia and Thailand," Microeconomics Working Papers 23391, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    2. Pick, James B. & Nishida, Tetsushi, 2015. "Digital divides in the world and its regions: A spatial and multivariate analysis of technological utilization," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 1-17.
    3. Narula, Rajneesh, 2004. "Understanding absorptive capacities in an "innovation systems" context: consequences for economic and employment growth," Research Memorandum 004, Maastricht University, Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    4. Wang, Jue & Liu, Xiaming & Wei, Yingqi & Wang, Chengang, 2014. "Cultural Proximity and Local Firms’ catch up with Multinational Enterprises," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1-13.

    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. 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.
    2. 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).
    3. Gong, X., 2001. "Empirical studies on the labor market and on consumer demand," Other publications TiSEM eed29455-f1bf-4cc3-aff5-c, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    4. Joachim Ahrens, 2002. "Governance And The Implementation Of Technology Policy In Less Developed Countries," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(4-5), pages 441-476.
    5. Amit Bhaduri, 2018. "A macroeconomic perspective on Asian development," WIDER Working Paper Series 91, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Sanjaya Lall, 1998. "Technological capabilities in emerging Asia," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(2), pages 213-243.
    7. Lopamudra D. Satpathy & Bani Chatterjee & Jitendra Mahakud, 2017. "Firm Characteristics and Total Factor Productivity: Evidence from Indian Manufacturing Firms," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 11(1), pages 77-98, February.
    8. Fagerberg , Jan & Srholec , Martin, 2015. "Capabilities, Competitiveness, Nations," Papers in Innovation Studies 2015/2, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    9. Frances Stewart, 2018. "Revisiting the methodology of Myrdal in Asian Drama 50 years on," WIDER Working Paper Series 109, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Jan Fagerberg & Martin Srholec, 2017. "Capabilities, economic development, sustainability," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 41(3), pages 905-926.
    11. Keshari, Pradeep Kumar, 2012. "Indian non-electrical machinery industry," MPRA Paper 43047, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Basant, Rakesh, 2002. "Knowledge Flows and IndustrialClusters: An Analytical Review of Literature," IIMA Working Papers WP2002-02-01, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    13. Baskaran, Angathevar, 2005. "From science to commerce: the evolution of space development policy and technology accumulation in India," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 155-179.
    14. Pietrobelli C. & Puppato F., 2015. "Technology foresight and industrial strategy in developing countries," MERIT Working Papers 2015-016, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    15. Pamukcu, Teoman, 2003. "Trade Liberalization and Innovation Decisions of Firms: Lessons from Post-1980 Turkey," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(8), pages 1443-1458, August.
    16. Carlo Pietrobelli & Frances Stewart, 2008. "Introduction," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(1), pages 1-8.
    17. Fagerberg, Jan & Srholec, Martin & Verspagen, Bart, 2010. "Innovation and Economic Development," 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 833-872, Elsevier.
    18. Djankov, Simeon & Hoekman, Bernard M, 2000. "Foreign Investment and Productivity Growth in Czech Enterprises," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 14(1), pages 49-64, January.
    19. Feenstra, Robert C., 1996. "Trade and uneven growth," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 229-256, April.
    20. 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.

    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:oxdevs:v:25:y:1997:i:2:p:189-207. 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/CODS20 .

    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.