IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unm/unumer/2013010.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Complementarity between internal knowledge creation and external knowledge sourcing in developing countries

Author

Listed:
  • Hou, Jun

    (UNU-MERIT/MGSoG)

  • Mohnen, Pierre

    (UNU-MERIT/MGSoG, and Maastricht University)

Abstract

In developing countries, innovation is to a large extent a matter of adoption of advanced technologies but also of conducting internal R&D to be able to better assimilate existing technologies. This paper, based on firm level data from 24 developing countries, examines the roles of internal R&D efforts (MAKE) and external technology sourcing (BUY) in fostering productivity in manufacturing firms. Is MAKE a substitute for BUY or are the two strategies complementary as evidenced in some developed countries? Our empirical investigation highlights the critical role of external technology acquisition in manufacturing industries in low-income countries and exhibits signs of complementarity only in middle-income countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Hou, Jun & Mohnen, Pierre, 2013. "Complementarity between internal knowledge creation and external knowledge sourcing in developing countries," MERIT Working Papers 2013-010, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    • Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2013010
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://unu-merit.nl/publications/wppdf/2013/wp2013-010.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Deolalikar, Anil B & Evenson, Robert E, 1989. "Technology Production and Technology Purchase in Indian Industry: An Econometric Analysis," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(4), pages 689-692, November.
    2. Mytelka, Lynn Krieger, 1978. "Licensing and technology dependence in the Andean group," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 447-459, April.
    3. Tether, Bruce S., 2002. "Who co-operates for innovation, and why: An empirical analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 947-967, August.
    4. Arthur Lewbel, 2007. "Coherency And Completeness Of Structural Models Containing A Dummy Endogenous Variable," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 48(4), pages 1379-1392, November.
    5. Ronald H. Coase, 2000. "The new institutional economics," Chapters, in: Claude Ménard (ed.), Institutions, Contracts and Organizations, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Martin Carree & Boris Lokshin & René Belderbos, 2011. "A note on testing for complementarity and substitutability in the case of multiple practices," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 263-269, June.
    7. Tobias Kretschmer & Eugenio J. Miravete & Jose C. Pernias, 2012. "Competitive Pressure and the Adoption of Complementary Innovations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(4), pages 1540-1570, June.
    8. Basant, Rakesh & Fikkert, Brian, 1996. "The Effects of R&D, Foreign Technology Purchase, and Domestic and International Spillovers on Productivity in Indian Firms," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(2), pages 187-199, May.
    9. Boris Lokshin & René Belderbos & Martin Carree, 2008. "The Productivity Effects of Internal and External R&D: Evidence from a Dynamic Panel Data Model," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 70(3), pages 399-413, June.
    10. Hall, Bronwyn H. & Mairesse, Jacques, 1995. "Exploring the relationship between R&D and productivity in French manufacturing firms," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 263-293, January.
    11. Jacques MAIRESSE & Pierre MOHNEN & Yanyun ZHAO & Feng ZHEN, 2012. "Globalization, Innovation and Productivity in Manufacturing Firms: A Study of Four Sectors of China," Working Papers DP-2012-10, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    12. Mowery, David C & Oxley, Joanne E, 1995. "Inward Technology Transfer and Competitiveness: The Role of National Innovation Systems," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 19(1), pages 67-93, February.
    13. Mohnen, Pierre & Roller, Lars-Hendrik, 2005. "Complementarities in innovation policy," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(6), pages 1431-1450, August.
    14. Aggarwal, Aradhna, 2000. "Deregulation, technology imports and in-house R&D efforts: an analysis of the Indian experience," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(9), pages 1081-1093, December.
    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. Holmstrom, Bengt & Milgrom, Paul, 1994. "The Firm as an Incentive System," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(4), pages 972-991, September.
    17. Peter J. Lane & Michael Lubatkin, 1998. "Relative absorptive capacity and interorganizational learning," Post-Print hal-02311860, HAL.
    18. repec:dau:papers:123456789/13785 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Katrak, Homi, 1997. "Developing countries' imports of technology, in-house technological capabilities and efforts: an analysis of the Indian experience," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 67-83, June.
    20. Vives, Xavier, 1990. "Nash equilibrium with strategic complementarities," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 305-321.
    21. Pierre Dussauge & Bernard Garrette & Will Mitchell, 2000. "Learning from competing partners: outcomes and durations of scale and link alliances in Europe, North America and Asia," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(2), pages 99-126, February.
    22. Athey, Susan. & Stern, Scott, 1969-, 1998. "An empirical framework for testing theories about complementarity in orgaziational design," Working papers WP 4022-98., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    23. Milgrom, Paul & Roberts, John, 1995. "Complementarities and fit strategy, structure, and organizational change in manufacturing," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2-3), pages 179-208, April.
    24. Monjon, Stephanie & Waelbroeck, Patrick, 2003. "Assessing spillovers from universities to firms: evidence from French firm-level data," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 21(9), pages 1255-1270, November.
    25. Veugelers, Reinhilde, 1997. "Internal R & D expenditures and external technology sourcing," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 303-315, October.
    26. Miravete, Eugenio J. & Pernías, José C., 2010. "Testing for complementarity when strategies are dichotomous," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 106(1), pages 28-31, January.
    27. Bruno Cassiman & Reinhilde Veugelers, 2006. "In Search of Complementarity in Innovation Strategy: Internal R& D and External Knowledge Acquisition," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(1), pages 68-82, January.
    28. Mark Freel & Richard Harrison, 2006. "Innovation and cooperation in the small firm sector: Evidence from 'Northern Britain'," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(4), pages 289-305.
    29. Arora, Ashish & Gambardella, Alfonso, 1990. "Complementarity and External Linkages: The Strategies of the Large Firms in Biotechnology," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 361-379, June.
    30. Kim,Linsu & Nelson,Richard R. (ed.), 2000. "Technology, Learning, and Innovation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521770033, January.
    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. repec:ipg:wpaper:2014-488 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Caroline Mothe & Uyen T. Nguyen-Thi & Phu Nguyen-Van, 2014. "Are organizational innovation practices complements or substitutes for technological innovation performance?," Working Papers of BETA 2014-12, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.

    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. Jun Hou & Pierre Mohnen, 2013. "Complementarity between In-house R&D and Technology Purchasing: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Firms," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(3), pages 343-371, September.
    2. Zuniga, Pluvia & Crespi, Gustavo, 2013. "Innovation strategies and employment in Latin American firms," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 1-17.
    3. repec:ipg:wpaper:2014-488 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Fu, Xiaolan & Hou, Jun & Liu, Xiaohui, 2018. "Unpacking the Relationship between Outward Direct Investment and Innovation Performance: Evidence from Chinese firms," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 111-123.
    5. Caroline Mothe & Uyen T. Nguyen-Thi & Phu Nguyen-Van, 2015. "Assessing complementarity in organizational innovations for technological innovation: the role of knowledge management practices," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(29), pages 3040-3058, June.
    6. Resende, Marcelo & Strube, Eduardo & Zeidan, Rodrigo, 2014. "Complementarity of innovation policies in Brazilian industry: An econometric study," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 9-17.
    7. Caroline Mothe & Uyen T. Nguyen-Thi & Phu Nguyen-Van, 2014. "Are organizational innovation practices complements or substitutes for technological innovation performance?," Working Papers of BETA 2014-12, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    8. Hagedoorn, John & Wang, Ning, 2010. "Is there complementarity or substitutability between internal and external R&D strategies?," MERIT Working Papers 2010-005, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    9. Love, James H. & Roper, Stephen & Vahter, Priit, 2014. "Dynamic complementarities in innovation strategies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(10), pages 1774-1784.
    10. Schmiedeberg, Claudia, 2008. "Complementarities of innovation activities: An empirical analysis of the German manufacturing sector," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1492-1503, October.
    11. Sasidharan, Subash & Kathuria, Vinish, 2011. "Foreign Direct Investment and R&D: Substitutes or Complements--A Case of Indian Manufacturing after 1991 Reforms," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 1226-1239, July.
    12. Marco Da Rin & María Fabiana Penas, 2017. "Venture capital and innovation strategies," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 26(5), pages 781-800.
    13. Gilli, Marianna & Mancinelli, Susanna & Mazzanti, Massimiliano, 2014. "Innovation complementarity and environmental productivity effects: Reality or delusion? Evidence from the EU," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 56-67.
    14. Arie Y. Lewin & Silvia Massini & Carine Peeters, 2011. "Microfoundations of Internal and External Absorptive Capacity Routines," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 81-98, February.
    15. Caroline Mothe & Uyen T. Nguyen-Thi & Phu Nguyen-Van, 2015. "Complementarities in organizational innovation practices: evidence from French industrial firms," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(6), pages 569-595, September.
    16. Gombau, Verònica & Segarra Blasco, Agustí, 2011. "Innovation and absorptive capacity: What is the role of technological frontier?," Working Papers 2072/179622, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    17. Hottenrott, Hanna & Rexhäuser, Sascha & Veugelers, Reinhilde, 2016. "Organisational change and the productivity effects of green technology adoption," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 172-194.
    18. Mairesse, Jacques & Mohnen, Pierre, 2010. "Using Innovation Surveys for Econometric Analysis," 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 1129-1155, Elsevier.
    19. Hagedoorn, John & Wang, Ning, 2012. "Is there complementarity or substitutability between internal and external R&D strategies?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1072-1083.
    20. Veugelers, Reinhilde & Cassiman, Bruno, 2002. "Complementarity in the Innovation Strategy: Internal R&D, External Technology Acquisition and Cooperation," CEPR Discussion Papers 3284, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    21. Peeters, T.J.G., 2013. "External knowledge search and use in new product development," Other publications TiSEM 300ebb34-b090-4210-b95e-f, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    innovation; make and buy; complementarity; developing countries;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:unm:unumer:2013010. 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: Ad Notten (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/meritnl.html .

    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.