Content area
Full Text
J Technol Transf (2014) 39:915944 DOI 10.1007/s10961-013-9324-9
Paloma Almodvar Javier Saiz-Briones Brian S. Silverman
Published online: 22 November 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
Abstract A growing literature explores the degree to which rms learn from exporting. Although this literature nds that rms that export subsequently enjoy enhanced innovative performance, there has been little research that compares the effect of exporting to that of alternative internationalization activities. In this paper, we extend the literature to explore theoretically the differential effects of a rms exporting, foreign direct investment, and importing activity on its innovative outcomes. We test the resulting hypotheses using a sample of Spanish manufacturing rms from 2000 to 2008. We nd that (1) learning associated with exporting is more pronounced than that associated with a rms FDI activities, (2) exporting and FDI operate as substitutes in their effect on a rms learning, and (3) although importing is positively associated with learning as manifested in new product introductions, it is not associated with learning as manifested in patenting activity.
Keywords Learning by exporting Technological innovation Exports Imports
Foreign direct investment
1 Introduction
This paper expands the current debate on learning by exporting. It is clear that rms that export are more productive than those that do not. Early research indicated that this occurs
P. Almodvar (&)
Facultad de Ciencias Econmicas y Empresariales (Campus de Somosaguas), Departamento de Organizacin de Empresas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28223 Madrid, Spain e-mail: [email protected]
J. Saiz-Briones
Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040 Madrid, Spain e-mail: [email protected]
B. S. Silverman
Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, 105 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3E6, Canadae-mail: [email protected]
Learning through foreign market participation:the relative benets of exporting, importing, and foreign direct investment
123
916 P. Almodvar et al.
because more productive rms choose to export, rather than because rms learn to be more productive via exporting (e.g., Bernard and Jensen 1999; Delgado et al. 2002). However, a recent series of studies nds that those rms that choose to export subsequently enjoy more success at technological innovation, suggesting that such rms access new, diverse knowledge through the act of exporting (e.g., Salomon and Shaver 2005). Yet one limitation to the current debate is the focus on exporting as the sole form...