How Does Technology Import and Export Affect the Innovative Performance of Firms? From the Perspective of Emerging Markets Firms

Kui Wang,Shiye Mei,Jintang Wang,Shasha Xiong

doi:10.1155/2020/3810574

Kui Wang, Shiye Mei + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/3810574

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Journal: Complexity	Publication Date: Jun 19, 2020
Citations: 3	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Wuhan University, Jiujiang University, Wuyi University

Abstract

As economic globalization develops greatly in recent years, emerging market firms (EMFs) increasingly grasp the opportunity of cross-border learning to develop and improve their technology capability through learning by exporting (LBE) and learning by technology importing (LBTI). Although LBE and LBTI have been supported by extensive literature, it still is not clear what and how EMFs learn through LBE and LBTI. In this study, we highlight the role of human agency by examining how perceived competitive threat from informal firms determines EMFs relative preference for product innovation and process innovation. Based on a World Bank dataset on Chinese manufacturing firms during 2009–2011, this study finds firms facing high (vs. low) perceived informal competition which may devote relatively more attention to product innovation than to process innovation after entering into export markets, whereas firms facing high perceived informal competition may pay more attention to process innovation in process of learning by technology import. This study is the first to focus on the effect of informal sector firms on cross-border learning.

Highlights

In the past two decades, the emergence of a group of emerging market firms (EMFs) with high international competitiveness has been a hot topic in international business [1], strategic management [2], marketing [3], and innovation [4]
Based on the attention-based view [12], which argues that what decision makers do depend on the issues and answers they focus their attention on, we argue that the perceived competitive threat from informal firms in home countries can influence the focal firm’s attention to process or product innovation and affect the effects of learning-byexporting effect (LBE) and learning-by-technology-importing effect” (LBTI) on process and product innovation outcomes
Using nearest neighbor matching to conduct propensity score matching (PSM), we have found the positive relationship between engagement in export and product innovation is only significant for firms facing a high level of informal competition, but this relationship does not remain significant for firms facing a low level of informal competition

Summary

Introduction

In the past two decades, the emergence of a group of emerging market firms (EMFs) with high international competitiveness has been a hot topic in international business [1], strategic management [2], marketing [3], and innovation [4]. Given EMFs’ achievement that has amazed the world, a great body of studies has devoted to explain how EMFs overcome the constraints of the home environment and catch up with multinational enterprises (MNEs) from advanced economy [1, 5]. International markets provide a “springboard” for EMFs to catch up with advanced economy MNEs through learning [1]. Some recent literature studies have identified two key cross-border learning mechanisms for EMFs to enhance their technical capabilities, technology import and learning by doing [3]. A great body of the literature has shown that firms can learn through exporting activities and subsequently achieve productivity gains, which has been labeled as “learning-byexporting effect (LBE)” [6, 7]. Research has found technology licensing from foreign origins is positively associated with the licensee firm’s technological innovation, labeled as “learning-by-technology-importing effect” (LBTI) [3]

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