Comparative and Pooled Analysis of the Three Countries

This chapter presents a comparative analysis of technology upgrading and firm performance in the three countries as a group, using a pooled sample of 130 firms for which relevant data are available. It seeks to identify common factors that determine technological dynamism in the three countries, and examines whether the positive relationship between technology and firm performance obtains across all the countries when country-specific effects are controlled for. It compares the extent to which manufacturing firms in the three countries have responded to trade liberalization by upgrading technology and technological skills and capabilities, and looks at micro-level supply-side factors that determine the capacity of firms to upgrade their technology and skills. The behaviour of firms with respect to export orientation and employment growth is also examined.