IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/tpr/adbadr/v30y2013i2p49-75.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Foreign Firms and Indigenous Technology Development in the People's Republic of China

Author

Listed:
  • Fredrik Sjöholm

    (Professor at the Department of Economics, Lund University and the Research Institute of Industrial Economics)

  • Nannan Lundin

    (Managing Director at Tekfors Ltd.)

Abstract

The People's Republic of China (PRC) is currently promoting indigenous technology development through support of Chinese firms and, arguably, by restricting operations of foreign multinational firms. This policy seems to overlook the impact of foreign firms on technology development in local firms. For instance, technology might leak out to local firms though spillovers. Moreover, competition from foreign firms might force local firms to engage in technology development. We examine the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on technology development in the PRC. We start by surveying a large and growing literature on FDI and spillovers in the country. Most previous studies find evidence of positive spillovers. We then continue to examine the effect of FDI on competition in the Chinese manufacturing sector and the effect of competition on firms’ research and development (R&D). Our analysis is conducted on a large dataset including all large- and medium-sized Chinese firms over the period 1998–2004. Our results show that FDI increases competition but there are no strong indications of competition affecting investments in R&D. © 2013 Asian Development Bank and Asian Development Bank Institute.

Suggested Citation

  • Fredrik Sjöholm & Nannan Lundin, 2013. "Foreign Firms and Indigenous Technology Development in the People's Republic of China," Asian Development Review, MIT Press, vol. 30(2), pages 49-75, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:adbadr:v:30:y:2013:i:2:p:49-75
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/ADEV_a_00015
    File Function: link to full text PDF
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Holger Görg & David Greenaway, 2016. "Much Ado about Nothing? Do Domestic Firms Really Benefit from Foreign Direct Investment?," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES AND HOST COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT Volume 53: World Scientific Studies in International Economics, chapter 9, pages 163-189, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    2. Jan Boone, 2000. "Competitive Pressure: The Effects on Investments in Product and Process Innovation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 31(3), pages 549-569, Autumn.
    3. Sourafel Girma & Yundan Gong, 2008. "FDI, Linkages and the Efficiency of State-Owned Enterprises in China," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(5), pages 728-749.
    4. Philippe Aghion & Mark Schankerman, 1999. "Competition, entry and the social returns to infrastructure in transition economies," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 7(1), pages 79-101, March.
    5. Nicole Madariaga & Sandra Poncet, 2007. "FDI in Chinese Cities: Spillovers and Impact on Growth," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 837-862, May.
    6. Brian J. Aitken & Ann E. Harrison, 2022. "Do Domestic Firms Benefit from Direct Foreign Investment? Evidence from Venezuela," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Globalization, Firms, and Workers, chapter 6, pages 139-152, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    7. Sauvant, Karl P., 2009. "FDI protectionism is on the rise," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5052, The World Bank.
    8. Sune Karlsson & Nannan Lundin & Fredrik Sjöholm & Ping He, 2009. "Foreign Firms and Chinese Employment," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 178-201, January.
    9. Aghion, Philippe & Howitt, Peter, 1992. "A Model of Growth through Creative Destruction," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 60(2), pages 323-351, March.
    10. Jefferson, Gary & Hu, Albert G. Z. & Guan, Xiaojing & Yu, Xiaoyun, 2003. "Ownership, performance, and innovation in China's large- and medium-size industrial enterprise sector," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 89-113.
    11. Raj Nallari & Shahid Yusuf & Breda Griffith & Rwitwika Bhattacharya, 2011. "Frontiers in Development Policy : A Primer on Emerging Issues," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2350.
    12. repec:bla:econom:v:41:y:1974:i:162:p:176-93 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Lucia Foster & John C. Haltiwanger & C. J. Krizan, 2001. "Aggregate Productivity Growth: Lessons from Microeconomic Evidence," NBER Chapters, in: New Developments in Productivity Analysis, pages 303-372, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Liu, Zhiqiang, 2008. "Foreign direct investment and technology spillovers: Theory and evidence," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(1-2), pages 176-193, February.
    15. Lundin, Nannan & Sjöholm, Fredrik & Qian , Jinchang, 2006. "The Role Of Small Firms In China’S Technology Development," EIJS Working Paper Series 227, Stockholm School of Economics, The European Institute of Japanese Studies.
    16. Jozef Konings & Patrick Van Cayseele & Frederic Warzynski, 2005. "The Effects of Privatization and Competitive Pressure on Firms' Price-Cost Margins: Micro Evidence from Emerging Economies," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(1), pages 124-134, February.
    17. Takeshi Koyama & Stephen S. Golub, 2006. "OECD's FDI Regulatory Restrictiveness Index: Revision and Extension to more Economies," OECD Working Papers on International Investment 2006/4, OECD Publishing.
    18. Girma, Sourafel & Görg, Holger & Gong, Yundan, 2006. "Can You Teach Old Dragons New Tricks? FDI and Innovation Activity in Chinese State-Owned Enterprises," CEPR Discussion Papers 5838, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Philippe Aghion & Christopher Harris & Peter Howitt & John Vickers, 2001. "Competition, Imitation and Growth with Step-by-Step Innovation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 68(3), pages 467-492.
    20. Brandt, Loren & Van Biesebroeck, Johannes & Zhang, Yifan, 2012. "Creative accounting or creative destruction? Firm-level productivity growth in Chinese manufacturing," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 339-351.
    21. Philippe Aghion & Nick Bloom & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & Peter Howitt, 2005. "Competition and Innovation: an Inverted-U Relationship," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 701-728.
    22. Fredrik Sjöholm & Nannan Lundin, 2010. "The Role of Small Firms in the Technology Development of China," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(9), pages 1117-1139, September.
    23. Co, Catherine Y., 2001. "Trade, foreign direct investment and industry performance," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 19(1-2), pages 163-183, January.
    24. Barry Naughton, 2007. "The Chinese Economy: Transitions and Growth," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262640643, December.
    25. Holger Görg & Eric Strobl, 2016. "Multinational Companies And Productivity Spillovers: A Meta-Analysis," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES AND HOST COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT Volume 53: World Scientific Studies in International Economics, chapter 8, pages 145-161, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    26. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    27. Chung, Wilbur, 2001. "Mode, size, and location of foreign direct investments and industry markups," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 185-211, June.
    28. Veugelers, Reinhilde & Houte, Peter Vanden, 1990. "Domestic R&D in the presence of multinational enterprises," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 1-15.
    29. 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.
    30. Xu, Xinpeng & Sheng, Yu, 2012. "Are FDI spillovers regional? Firm-level evidence from China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 244-258.
    31. Stefanie A. Haller, 2005. "The Impact of Multinational Entry on Domestic Market Structure and R&D," Economics Working Papers ECO2005/16, European University Institute.
    32. Dahai Fu & Yanrui Wu, 2013. "Foreign Entry and Profitability of Domestic Firms: Evidence from China," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 12(2), pages 34-60, Summer.
    33. Robert E. Lipsey, 2004. "Home- and Host-Country Effects of Foreign Direct Investment," NBER Chapters, in: Challenges to Globalization: Analyzing the Economics, pages 333-379, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    34. Roeger, Werner, 1995. "Can Imperfect Competition Explain the Difference between Primal and Dual Productivity Measures? Estimates for U.S. Manufacturing," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(2), pages 316-330, April.
    35. Gary Jefferson & Bai Huamao & Guan Xiaojing & Yu Xiaoyun, 2006. "R&D Performance in Chinese industry," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4-5), pages 345-366.
    36. Vickers, John, 1997. "Regulation, Competition, and the Structure of Prices," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 13(1), pages 15-26, Spring.
    37. Du, Luosha & Harrison, Ann & Jefferson, Gary H., 2012. "Testing for horizontal and vertical foreign investment spillovers in China, 1998–2007," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 234-243.
    38. Filip Abraham & Jozef Konings & Veerle Slootmaekers, 2010. "FDI spillovers in the Chinese manufacturing sector," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 18(1), pages 143-182, January.
    39. Roberts, Mark J & Tybout, James R, 1997. "The Decision to Export in Colombia: An Empirical Model of Entry with Sunk Costs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(4), pages 545-564, September.
    40. Peter J Buckley & Jeremy Clegg & Chengqi Wang, 2002. "The Impact of Inward FDI on the Performance of Chinese Manufacturing Firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 33(4), pages 637-655, December.
    41. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    42. Boone, Jan, 2001. "Intensity of competition and the incentive to innovate," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 705-726, April.
    43. Y Wei & X Liu, 2006. "Productivity spillovers from R&D, exports and FDI in China's manufacturing sector," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(4), pages 544-557, July.
    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. Lu, Haiyan & Zhao, Pengjun & Hu, Haoyu & Zeng, Liangen & Wu, Kai Sheng & Lv, Di, 2022. "Transport infrastructure and urban-rural income disparity: A municipal-level analysis in China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    2. Yi Qu & Yingqi Wei, 2017. "The Role of Domestic Institutions and FDI on Innovation—Evidence from Chinese Firms," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 16(2), pages 55-76, Summer.
    3. Wang, Xiaoqing & Sun, Xing & Oprean-Stan, Camelia & Chang, Tsangyao, 2023. "What role does global value chain participation play in emissions embodied in trade? New evidence from value-added trade," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1205-1223.
    4. Xing Shi & Yanrui Wu & Dahai Fu & Xiumei Guo & Huaqing Wu, 2019. "Effects of National Science and Technology Programs on Innovation in Chinese Firms," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 18(1), pages 207-236, Winter/Sp.
    5. Herrerias, M.J. & Cuadros, A. & Luo, D., 2016. "Foreign versus indigenous innovation and energy intensity: Further research across Chinese regions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 1374-1384.

    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. Jin, Shaosheng & Guo, Haiyue & Delgado, Michael S. & Wang, H. Holly, 2017. "Benefit or damage? The productivity effects of FDI in the Chinese food industry," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 1-9.
    2. Cheryl Xiaoning Long & Galina Hale & Hirotaka Miura, 2014. "Productivity Spillovers from FDI in the People's Republic of China: A Nuanced View," Asian Development Review, MIT Press, vol. 31(2), pages 77-108, September.
    3. Waldkirch, Andreas & Ofosu, Andra, 2010. "Foreign Presence, Spillovers, and Productivity: Evidence from Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 1114-1126, August.
    4. Agarwal, Natasha & Milner, Chris & Riaño, Alejandro, 2014. "Credit constraints and spillovers from foreign firms in China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 261-275.
    5. Damijan, Jože P. & Rojec, Matija & Majcen, Boris & Knell, Mark, 2013. "Impact of firm heterogeneity on direct and spillover effects of FDI: Micro-evidence from ten transition countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 895-922.
    6. Elya Nabila Abdul Bahri & Abu Hassan Shaari Md Nor & Tamat Sarmidi & Nor Hakimah Haji Mohd Nor, 2019. "The Role of Financial Development in the Relationship Between Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Growth: A Nonlinear Approach," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 22(02), pages 1-32, June.
    7. Anwar, Sajid & Sun, Sizhong, 2012. "FDI and market entry/exit: Evidence from China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 487-498.
    8. Segundo Camino-Mogro & Natalia Bermúdez-Barrezueta & Mary Armijos, 2023. "Is FDI a potential tool for boosting firm’s performance? Firm level evidence from Ecuador," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 341-391, April.
    9. J. Rosell-Martinez & P. Sanchez-Sellero, 2011. "Foreign direct investment and technical progress in Spanish manufacturing," Post-Print hal-00693830, HAL.
    10. Mi Lin & Yum K. Kwan, 2017. "FDI Spatial Spillovers in China," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(8), pages 1514-1530, August.
    11. Anwar, Sajid & Sun, Sizhong, 2014. "Heterogeneity and curvilinearity of FDI-related productivity spillovers in China's manufacturing sector," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 23-32.
    12. Mao, Zhenxing (Eddie) & Yang, Yang, 2016. "FDI spillovers in the Chinese hotel industry: The role of geographic regions, star-rating classifications, ownership types, and foreign capital origins," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1-12.
    13. Danai Christopoulou & Nikolaos Papageorgiadis & Chengang Wang & Georgios Magkonis, 2021. "IPR Law Protection and Enforcement and the Effect on Horizontal Productivity Spillovers from Inward FDI to Domestic Firms: A Meta-analysis," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 235-266, April.
    14. Lin, Mi & Kwan, Yum K., 2016. "FDI technology spillovers, geography, and spatial diffusion," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 257-274.
    15. Massimo Del Gatto & Adriana Di Liberto & Carmelo Petraglia, 2011. "Measuring Productivity," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(5), pages 952-1008, December.
    16. Thomas Strobel, 2012. "New evidence on the sources of EU countries’ productivity growth—industry growth differences from R&D and competition," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 39(3), pages 293-325, August.
    17. Nadia Doytch, 2021. "Who Gains from Services FDI—Host or Home Economies? An Analysis of Disaggregated Services FDI Inflows and Outflows of 24 European Economies," Foreign Trade Review, , vol. 56(3), pages 257-288, August.
    18. Li, Qian & Xue, Qiuzhi & Truong, Yann & Xiong, Jie, 2018. "MNCs' industrial linkages and environmental spillovers in emerging economies: The case of China," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 346-355.
    19. Yosuke Okada, 2005. "Competition and Productivity in Japanese Manufacturing Industries," NBER Working Papers 11540, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Markus Eberhardt & Christian Helmers & Zhihong Yu, 2011. "Is the Dragon Learning to Fly? An Analysis of the Chinese Patent Explosion," Discussion Papers 11/16, University of Nottingham, GEP.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    People’s Republic of China; FDI; spillovers; technology; R&D;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

    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:tpr:adbadr:v:30:y:2013:i:2:p:49-75. 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: The MIT Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://direct.mit.edu/journals .

    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.