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Moving Skills from Hands to Heads: Import of Technology and Export Performance

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  • Galeotti, Marzio
  • Barba Navaretti, Giorgio

Abstract

This paper examines the link between imported technologies and a country?s export performance, as measured by product quality. The analysis is set against the background of the process of regional integration between the EU and its neighbouring developing countries. The underlying question is whether trade integration fosters or dampens learning and technological upgrading. We find that unit values of exports from these countries to the EU rose steadily between 1988 and 1996, relative to the unit values of world exports to Europe. If increases in unit values satisfactorily proxy increases in product quality, then trade integration has fostered product upgrading and technological learning in the sample countries. We find that imported technologies and other sources of knowledge have a strong bearing on this pattern. Technological inflows are captured by the degree of involvement of European companies in export flows from our sample countries (Outward Processing Trade) and by the skill content of the machines imported.

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  • Galeotti, Marzio & Barba Navaretti, Giorgio, 2000. "Moving Skills from Hands to Heads: Import of Technology and Export Performance," CEPR Discussion Papers 2525, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:2525
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    Cited by:

    1. Kaminski, Bartlomiej, 2001. "How accession to the European Union has affected external trade and foreign direct investment in Central European economies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2578, The World Bank.
    2. Françoise Lemoine & Deniz Ünal-Kesenci, 2003. "Trade and Technology Transfers: a Comparative Study of Turkey, India and China," Working Papers 2003-16, CEPII research center.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Technology imports; Export performance; Regional integration; Textile industry;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General

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