Who gains from whom? Spillovers, competition and technology sourcing in the foreign-owned sector of UK manufacturing

Nigel Driffield, James H. Love

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

There is a growing literature explaining foreign direct investment flows in terms of 'technology sourcing', whereby multinational firms invest in certain locations not to exploit their firm-specific assets in the host environment, but to access technology that is generated by host country firms. However, it is far from clear whether the literature has found significant evidence of such activity beyond a few isolated examples. This paper extends this work by allowing for the possibility of multinational enterprises (MNEs) sourcing technology not only from host country firms but also from each other within a host economy. The paper demonstrates that MNEs in the UK do indeed appropriate spillovers both from indigenous firms and from other foreign investors, but that there are also significant competition effects that act to reduce productivity in certain industries. The paper also explores which countries' affiliates gain most from technology sourcing in the UK, and which generate the greatest spillovers within the foreign-owned sector. © Scottish Economic Society 2005.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)663-686
Number of pages24
JournalScottish Journal of Political Economy
Volume52
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Nov 2005

Bibliographical note

This is the pre-peer-reviewed version of the following article: Driffield, N., & Love, J. H. (2005). Who gains from whom? Spillovers, competition and technology sourcing in the foreign-owned sector of UK manufacturing. Scottish journal of political economy, 52(5), 663-686, which has been published in final form at
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118689988/abstract

Keywords

  • foreign direct investment flows
  • access technology
  • host economy

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