Publication: Openness and Technological Innovation in East Asia: Have They Increased the Demand for Skills?
Abstract
This paper examines whether the increased openness and technological innovation in East Asia have contributed to an increased demand for skills in the region. We explore a unique firm level data set across eight countries in the East Asia and Pacific region. Our results strongly support the idea that greater openness and technological innovation have increased the demand for skills, especially in middle-income countries. In particular, while the presence in international markets has been skill enhancing for most middle-income countries, this is not the case for manufacturing firms operating in China and in low-income countries. We interpret this to be supporting the premise that, if international integration in the region continues to intensify and technology continues to be skilled biased, policies aimed at mitigating the skills shortages should produce continual and persistent increase in skills.
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Publication Openness and Technological Innovation in East Asia : Have They Increased the Demand for Skills?(2010-04-01)This paper examines whether the increased openness and technological innovation in East Asia have contributed to an increased demand for skills in the region. The author explores a unique firm level data set across eight countries in Asia and the Pacific region. The results strongly support the idea that greater openness and technological innovation have increased the demand for skills, especially in middle-income countries. In particular, while the presence in international markets has been skill enhancing for most middle-income countries, this is not the case for manufacturing firms operating in China and in low-income countries. The author interprets this to support the premise that if international integration in the region continues to intensify and technology continues to be skilled biased, policies aimed at mitigating the skills shortages should produce continual and persistent increase in skills.Publication Openness and Technological Innovations in Developing Countries: Evidence from Firm-Level Surveys(2008)This paper examines international technology transfers using firm-level data across 43 developing countries. Its findings show that exporting and importing activities are important channels for the transfer of technology. Majority foreign-owned firms are less likely to engage in technological innovations than minority foreign-owned firms or domestic firms. The authors interpret this finding as evidence that the technology transferred from multinational parents to majority-owned subsidiaries is more mature than that transferred to minority-owned subsidiaries. Their findings also suggest that foreign-owned subsidiaries rely mostly on the direct transfer of technology from their parents and that firms that import intermediate inputs are more likely to acquire new technology from their machinery suppliers.Publication International Economic Activities and Skilled Labour Demand : Evidence from Brazil and China(2009)Using two new firm-level datasets, this article investigates the impact of three international economic activities--the use of imported inputs, exports, and foreign direct investment--on skilled labour demand in Brazil and China. We find that Brazilian firms that engage in these activities exhibit a higher skilled labour demand than firms that do not. In contrast, Chinese firms that engage in these activities have a lower skilled labour demand than firms that do not. Thus, international economic activities act as a channel for skill-biased technology diffusion in Brazil but have an effect of specialization according to comparative advantage in unskilled labour-intensive goods in China.Publication Openness and Technological Innovations in Developing Countries : Evidence from Firm-Level Surveys(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-08)The authors analyze the role of international technological diffusion for firm-level technological innovations in several developing countries. Their findings show that, after controlling for firm, industry, and country characteristics, exporting and importing activities are important channels for the diffusion of technology. They also find evidence that the majority of foreign-owned firms are significantly less likely to engage in technological innovations than minority foreign-owned firms or domestic-owned firms. The authors interpret this finding as evidence that the technology transferred from multinational parents to majority-owned subsidiaries is more mature than that transferred to minority-owned subsidiaries. This finding supports the idea that equity joint ventures maximize technology transfers to local firms.Publication Innovation for Development and the Role of Government : A Perspective from the East Asia and Pacific Region(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2009)This book is the result of a joint forum on 'innovation for development' held by the World Bank and the China-based Asia-Pacific Finance and Development Center (AFDC) in Shanghai in September 2006. The book examines the relationship between innovation, competitiveness, and economic growth; the role of innovation in financial sector development; and specific government policies for innovation in China. Development is one of the major themes of today's world. In the context of global economic development practices, the development patterns of various countries fall primarily into three categories. The first is the resources-based pattern, which is supported by natural resource endowments. The second category is the dependency pattern, which is determined by a country's adjacency to economically developed countries with which it has close economic ties. The third is the innovation-based pattern, which is driven by innovation. Measured by levels of economic development, the current top 20 most developed countries in the world have opted primarily for an innovation-driven pattern. In addition, from three perspectives, namely, the creation of an innovation regime, innovation-oriented fiscal and financial policies, and regional cooperation on innovation, and in two dimensions, namely, theory and practice, the book discusses and explores problems facing us all now and challenges in the future. The viewpoints in this book both reflect the research on the issues of innovation by its authors and, to a certain extent, mirror the views expressed by nonspeaker experts in the course of discussions at the 2006 forum. Economic globalization is an inevitable trend. It is extremely necessary and valuable to conduct research on, and exchange views about, innovation and development against the backdrop of constantly deepening economic globalization. First and foremost, this helps us to see through the vast and complex economic surface to examine and discover the laws that drive sustainable economic development. Second, through sharing experiences of innovation among different countries, it can help us to establish a cooperative mechanism for innovation that can transcend social systems and cultural differences and promote the harmonious economic development for the region.
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