Conditional technology spillovers from foreign direct investment: evidence from Indian manufacturing industries

Abstract

This paper examines the productivity effect of technology spillovers via vertical linkages through foreign direct investment (FDI) in India. An analysis of firm-level panel data from the Indian manufacturing sector from 2000–2001 to 2007–2008 employing the semi-parametric method of Levinsohn–Petrin to correct the endogeneity bias in productivity estimation shows productivity improvements in domestic firms due to vertical technology spillovers are only through backward linkages from FDI. The study confirms that firms in high-technology industries benefit more from vertical technology spillovers from foreign firms compared to firms in low-technology industries. It also shows that minority-owned foreign firms are more prone to technology spillovers than majority-owned foreign firms. Nonetheless, domestic firms in high-technology industries are able to access both horizontal as well as vertical technology spillovers from majority-owned foreign firms. The paper concludes that technology spillovers from FDI are not spontaneous, but are constrained by the technological ability of domestic firms and the ownership structure of foreign firms.