The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on Technology Transfer
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Date
2011-10
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Technology has gaining importance as vital factor for competitiveness in the world economy.
Technology transfer through Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has become the predominant
channel of technology transfer. FDI can have important technological spillovers in host
economies, especially if it takes a joint-venture form subject to local control. Technology
transfer has been a subject of considerable interest to many groups, such as policymakers,
international funding agencies, and business executives, due to close relationship between
technology transfer and economic growth. It has aroused the interest of academic researchers.
Despite all this attention, however, the concept and mechanism of technology transfer remains
vague, controversial, and inadequately operationalised.
Unfortunately, due to the need for capital and/or absence of appropriate national technology
policies, most host developing countries focus on maximizing the quantity of their FDI inflow,
while underestimating the importance of appropriateness of technologies transferred through
FDI. However, competitive technology has become a basic prerequisite for economic
development and growth, and developing countries like Ethiopia should try to achieve best
possible technological gains from FDI.
Using a firm-level survey, this study examines effects of FDI on local metal and engineering
firms. The survey indicates that technological inflow through FDI is an important conduit in
promoting local firms to upgrade and to be competitive in national as well as international
market. However, the local technological capability to adopt the technology, the collaboration
between foreign based companies and local firms, and the national technology policy are very
weak to benefit from FDI. The study also explores the possible contributing factors related to
foreign technology transfer, such as domestic competition and linkages (training and
consultancy, employee movement, etc). The experience of newly developing countries is
reviewed with regard to FDI and technology transfer and the gaps are identified and analyzed.
To address the problem the researcher proposes policy implications and framework by putting
the contributors to effectively transfer technologies from FDI.
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Keywords
Technology transfer, Foreign Direct Investment, Spillovers