Working Paper: NBER ID: w13086
Authors: Ram C. Acharya; Wolfgang Keller
Abstract: While there is general agreement that technology differences must figure prominently in any successful account of the cross-country income variation, not much is known on the source of these technology differences. This paper examines cross-country income differences in terms of factor accumulation, domestic R&D, and foreign technological spillovers. The empirical analysis encompasses seventeen industrialized countries in four continents over three decades, at a level disaggregated enough to identify innovations in a number of key high-tech sectors. International technology transfer is found to play a crucial part in accounting for income differences. We also relate technology transfer to imports, showing that imports are often a major channel. At the same time, our analysis highlights that international technology transfer varies importantly across industries and countries.
Keywords: technology transfer; international trade; R&D; productivity
JEL Codes: F1; F2; O3
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Domestic R&D (O32) | Productivity (O49) |
| International R&D (O32) | Domestic Productivity (O49) |
| International Technology Transfer (O36) | Productivity (O49) |
| Imports (F14) | Productivity (O49) |
| R&D in Leading Countries (O39) | Domestic Productivity (O49) |