Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

High-Tech Exports from Developing Countries: A Symptom of Technology Spurts or Statistical Illusion?

  • Published:
Review of World Economics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Specialization in high-tech products is frequently used to capture technological intensity of exports. A number of developing countries are among the most deeply specialized countries in exports of these products. The paper shows that the bulk of high-tech exports can actually be attributed to the effect of international fragmentation of production in electronics on trade statistics. It is confirmed in an econometric framework that while indigenous technological capabilities are associated with export performance in electronics, it is the propensity to import electronics components that accounts for by far the largest proportion of cross-country differences in specialization in electronics exports.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Alesina, A., A. Devleeschauwer, W. Easterly, S. Kurlat, and R. Wacziarg (2003). Fractionalization. Journal of Economic Growth 8 (2): 155–194.

  2. Archibugi, D. (2001). Pavitt’s Taxonomy Sixteen Years On: A Review Article. Economics of Innovation and New Technology 10 (5): 415–425.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Archibugi, D., and A. Coco (2004). A New Indicator of Technological Capabilities for Developed and Developing Countries (ArCo). World Development 32 (4): 629–654.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Arndt, S. W., and H. Kierzkowski (eds.) (2001). Fragmentation, New Production Patterns in the World Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  5. Cantwell, J., and S. Iammarino (1998). MNCs, Technological Innovation and Regional Systems in the EU: Some Evidence in the Italian Case. International Journal of the Economics of Business 5 (3): 383–408.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Castellacci, F. (2004). How Does Innovation Differ Across Sectors in Europe? Evidence from the CIS-SIEPI Database. Proceedings from the Second Globelics Conference on Innovation Systems and Development, Emerging Opportunities and Challenges, Beijing.

  7. Cheng, L. K., and H. Kierzkowski (2001). Global Production and Trade in East Asia. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

  8. Dalum, B., K. Laursen, and B. Verspagen (1999). Does Specialization Matter for Growth? Industrial and Corporate Change 8 (2): 267–288.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Ernst, D. (2001). Moving Beyond the Commodity Trap? Trade Adjustment and Industrial Upgrading in East Asia’s Electronics Industry. Working Paper No. 10. East-West Center, Honolulu.

  10. Ernst, D., and L. Kim (2002). Global Production Networks, Knowledge Diffusion, and Local Capability Formation. Research Policy 31 (8–9): 1417–1429.

    Google Scholar 

  11. European Commission (2003). 2003 Innovation Scoreboard: Technical Paper No. 4 Sectoral Innovation Scoreboards. Brussels: European Commission.

  12. Fagerberg, J. (1988). International Competitiveness. Economic Journal 98 (391): 355–374.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Fagerberg, J. (1997). Competitiveness, Scale and R&D. In Fagerberg, J., P. Hansson, L. Lundberg, and A. Melchior (eds.), Technology and International Trade. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

  14. Fearon, J. D., and D. D. Laitin (2003). Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War. American Political Science Review 97 (1): 75–90.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Feenstra, R. (1998). Integration of Trade and Disintegration of Production in the Global Economy. Journal of Economic Perspectives 12 (4): 31–50.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Gallup, J. L., J. D. Sachs, and A. Mellinger (1999). Geography and Economic Development. CID Working Paper No. 1/1999. Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

  17. Gereffi, G., J. Humphrey, and T. Sturgeon (2005). The Governance of Global Value Chains. Review of International Political Economy 12 (1): 105–128.

  18. Greenaway, D., R. Hine, and C. Milner (1995). Vertical and Horizontal Intra-Industry Trade: A Cross-Industry Analysis for the United Kingdom. Economic Journal 105 (433): 1505–1518.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Grossman, G., and E. Helpman (1991). Innovation and Growth in the Global Economy. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

  20. Guerrieri, P., and C. Milana (1995). Changes and Trends in the World Trade in High-Technology Products. Cambridge Journal of Economics 19 (5): 225–242.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Hatzichronoglou, T. (1997). Revision of the High-Technology Sector and Product Classification. STI Working Paper 1997/2. OECD, Paris.

  22. Helpman, E., and P. R. Krugman (1985). Market Structure and Foreign Trade. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  23. Hobday, M. (2003). Innovation in Asian Industrialization: A Gerschenkronian Perspective. Oxford Development Studies 31 (3): 293–314.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Hummels, D., J. Ishii, and K. M. Yi (2001). The Nature and Growth of Vertical Specialization in World Trade. Journal of International Economics 54 (1): 75–96.

    Google Scholar 

  25. IMD (2005). The World Competitiveness Yearbook 2005. Lausanne: IMD-World Competitiveness Center.

  26. Jones, R. W. (2000). Globalization and the Theory of Input Trade. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

  27. Kadeřábková, A., and M. Srholec (2001). Structural Changes in Transition Economies. Prague Economic Papers 6 (4): 335–351.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Kaminski, B., and F. Ng (2001). Trade and Production Fragmentation: Central European Economies in EU Networks of Production and Marketing. Policy Research Working Paper 2611. World Bank, Washington, D.C.

  29. Kiszewski, A., A. Mellinger, A. Spielman, and P. Malaney (2004). A Global Index of the Stability of Malaria Transmission. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 70 (5): 486–498.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Kogut, B. (1985). Designing Global Strategies: Comparative and Competitive Value-Added Chains. Sloan Management Review 26 (4): 15–28.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Krugman, P. (1995). Growing World Trade: Causes and Consequences. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 25 (1): 327–362.

  32. Lall, S. (2000). The Technological Structure and Performance of Developing Country Manufactured Exports, 1985–98. Oxford Development Studies 28 (3): 337–369.

  33. Lall, S., M. Albaladejo, and J. Zhang (2004). Mapping Fragmentation: Electronics and Automobiles in East Asia and Latin America. Oxford Development Studies 32 (3): 407–432.

  34. Le Bas, C., and C. Sierra (2002). Location versus Home Country Advantages in R&D Activities: Some Further Results of Multinationals’ Locational Strategies. Research Policy 31 (4): 589–609.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Lüthje, B. (2002). Electronics Contract Manufacturing: Global Production and the International Division of Labor in the Age of Internet. Industry and Innovation 9 (3): 227–247.

  36. Mani, S. (2000). Exports of High Technology Products from Developing Countries: Is It a Real or Statistical Artifact? Discussion Paper No. 2000-1. UNU-INTECH, Maastricht.

  37. Marsili, O. (2001). The Anatomy and Evolution of Industries. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

  38. Mayer, J., A. Butkevicius, and A. Kadri (2002). Dynamic Products in World Exports. Discussion Papers No. 159. UNCTAD, Geneva.

  39. Nelson, R. R., and G. W. Winter (1982). An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

  40. NSF (National Science Foundation) (2002). Science and Technology Indicators 2002. Washington, D.C.: National Science Board.

  41. OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation) (2003). Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2003. Paris: OECD.

  42. OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation) (2005). Main Science and Technology Indicators. Paris: OECD.

  43. Patel, P., and K. Pavitt (1991). Large Firms in the Production of the Worlds Technology: An Important Case of Non-Globalisation. Journal of International Business Studies 22 (1): 1–21.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Pavitt, K. (1984). Sectoral Patterns of Technical Change: Towards a Taxonomy and a Theory. Research Policy 13 (6): 343–373.

    Google Scholar 

  45. Pavitt, K., and P. Patel (1999). Global Corporations and National Systems of Innovation: Who Dominates Whom? In D. Archibugi, J. Howells, and J. Michie (eds.), Innovation Policy in a Global Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  46. Peneder, M. (2003). Industry Classifications: Aim, Scope and Techniques. Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade 3 (1–2): 109–129.

    Google Scholar 

  47. Romer, P. M. (1990). Endogenous Technological Change. Journal of Political Economy 98 (5): 71–102.

    Google Scholar 

  48. Rosenberg, N. (1963). Technological Change in the Machine Tool Industry, 1840–1910. Journal of Economic History 23 (4): 414–443.

    Google Scholar 

  49. Schumpeter, J. (1934). The Theory of Economic Development. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

  50. Smith, K. (2002). What Is the “Knowledge Economy”? Knowledge Intensity and Distributed Knowledge Bases. Discussion Paper 2002-6. UNU-INTECH, Maastricht.

  51. Srholec, M. (2005). Innovation Strategies of Multinationals: Firm-Level Evidence from Foreign Affiliates in the Czech Republic. Proceedings from the 31th EIBA Annual Conference, Oslo.

  52. Srholec, M. (2006). Global Production Systems and Technological Catching-Up: Thinking Twice about High-Tech Industries in Emerging Countries. In K. Piech and S. Radoševič (eds.), The Knowledge-Based Economy in Central and East European Countries: Countries and Industries in a Process of Change. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

  53. UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) (2001). Human Development Report 2001: Making New Technologies Work for Human Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  54. UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) (2002a). World Investment Report 2002: Transnational Corporations and Export Competitiveness. Geneva: UNCTAD.

  55. UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) (2002b). Trade and Development Report 2002: Export Dynamism and Industrialization in Developing Countries. Geneva: UNCTAD.

  56. UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) (2002). Industrial Development Report 2002/2003: Competing through Innovation and Learning. Vienna: UNIDO.

  57. United Nations (2005). Comtrade Database. New York: United Nations Statistics Division.

  58. Verspagen, B., and W. Schoenmakers (2004). The Spatial Dimension of Patenting by Multinational Firms in Europe. Journal of Economic Geography 4 (1): 23–42.

    Google Scholar 

  59. Wooldridge, J. M. (2002). Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

  60. World Bank (2006). The World Development Indicators 2006. New York: World Bank.

  61. Yeats, A. (2001). Just How Big Is Global Production Sharing? In S. Arndt and H. Kierzkowski (eds.), Fragmentation: New Production and Trade Patterns in the World Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  62. Young, A. A. (1928). Increasing Returns and Economic Progress. Economic Journal 38 (152): 527–542.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture (TIK), University of Oslo, Moltkte Moesvei 31, N-0317, Oslo, Norway

    Martin Srholec

Authors
  1. Martin Srholec
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin Srholec.

Additional information

JEL no.

F10, O10, O30

About this article

Cite this article

Srholec, M. High-Tech Exports from Developing Countries: A Symptom of Technology Spurts or Statistical Illusion?. Rev World Econ 143, 227–255 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10290-007-0106-z

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10290-007-0106-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation