Production
https://prod.org.br/doi/10.1590/0103-6513.20190054
Production
Research Article

R&D spillovers from international student flows: a brics analysis

Matheus Dall’agnol; Diogo Ferraz; Naijela da Costa; Herick Fernando Moralles; Daisy Aparecida do Nascimento Rebelatto

Downloads: 0
Views: 755

Abstract

Abstract: Paper aims: to analyze the international flow of students - both from developed and underdeveloped countries - and to observe their significance for the productivity gains of the country of origin of these students.

Originality: The main contributions to the literature are the understanding of how student flows affect countries' economic growth, as well as to verify the systematic differences between the contribution of international student flows to economic growth between developed and underdeveloped countries.

Research method: This empirical study performed using a data set of 87 countries, during 2001-2012 yields results that are in accordance with previous literature, supporting the hypothesis of international student flows as a significant channel of R&D spillovers from developed countries. The paper used econometric models already tested by previous studies.

Main findings: The results show that BRICS countries may benefit more than other countries from such internationalization initiatives.

Implications for theory and practice: The mobility of international students is currently an important political issue in the world. These formal or informal links between agents from diverse countries result in an exchange of ideas, experiences and knowledge potentially generating new business opportunities for developing economies.

Keywords

Productivity, Developed countries, Underdeveloped countries, Economic growth

References

Abdih, Y., & Joutz, F. L. (2006). Relation the knowledge production function to total factor productivity: an endogenous growth puzzle (IMF Working Paper, pp. 242-271). Washington: International Monetary Fund.

Abreu, M., Groot, H. L. F. D., & Florax, R. J. G. M. (2004). Spatial patters of technology diffusion: an empirical analysis using TFP (Discussion Paper, No. 4-079/3). The Netherlands: Tinbergen Institute.

Abubakar, Y. A., & Mitra, J. (2017). Knowledge spillovers and high-impact growth: comparing local and foreign firms in the UK. Journal of International Entrepreneurship, 15(2), 145-176. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10843-016-0195-7.

Acemoglu, D. (2009). Introduction to modern economic growth. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Aghion, P., & Howitt, P. (2009). The economics of growth. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

Aiyar, S., & Dalgaard, C. J. (2005). Total factor productivity revisited: a dual approach to development accounting. IMF Staff Papers, 52(1), 82-102.

Atella, V., & Quintieri, B. (2001). Do R&D expenditures really matter for TFP? Applied Economics, 33(11), 1385-1389. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00036840010007939.

Audretsch, D. B., & Feldman, M. P. (1996). R&D spillovers and the geography of innovation and production. The American Economic Review, 86(3), 630-640.

Baier Junior, S. L., & Tamura, R. (2002). How important are capital and total factor productivity for economic growth? (Working Paper). Atlanta: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

Baldacci, Clements, B., Gupta, S., & Cui, Q. (2008). Social spending, human capital and growth in developing countries. World Development, 36(8), 1317-1341. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2007.08.003.

Baldwin, R. E., Braconier, H., & Forslid, R. (2005). Multinationals, endogenous growth and technological spillovers: theory and evidence. Review of International Economics, 13(5), 945-963. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9396.2005.00546.x.

Bauer, P. (1988). Decomposing TFP growth in the presence of cost inefficiency, nonconstant returns to scale, and technological progress (Vol. 8813, 20 p.). Cleveland: Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

Baumont, C., Ertur, C., & Gallo, J. L. (2001). A spatial econometric analysis of geographic spillovers and growth for european regions, 1980-1995. Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

Bayoumi, T., Coe, D. T., & Helpman, E. (1999). R&D spillovers and global growth. Journal of International Economics, 47(2), 399-428. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1996(98)00018-X.

Belitz, H., & Mölders, F. (2016). International knowledge spillovers through high-tech imports and R&D of foreign-owned firms. The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, 25(4), 590-613. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09638199.2015.1106575.

Benhabib, J., & Spiegel, M. M. (1994). The role of human capital in economic development: evidence from aggregate cross-country data. Journal of Monetary Economics, 34(2), 143-173. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0304-3932(94)90047-7.

Bitzer, J., & Geishecker, I. (2006). What drives trade-related R&D spillovers? Decomposing knowledge-diffusing trade flows. Economics Letters, 93(1), 52-57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2006.03.051.

Bitzer, J., & Kerekes, M. (2008). Does foreign direct investment transfer technology across borders? New evidence. Economics Letters, 100(3), 355-358. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2008.02.029.

Borensztein, E., Gregorio, J. D., & Lee, J.-W. (1998). How does foreign direct investment affect economic growth? Journal of International Economics, 45(1), 115-135. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1996(97)00033-0.

Breschi, S., & Lissoni, F. (2001). Knowledge spillovers and local innovation systems: a critical survey. Industrial and Corporate Change, 10(4), 975-1005.

Brun, J. F., Combes, J. L., & Renard, M. F. (2002). Are there spillover effects between coastal and noncoastal regions in China? China Economic Review, 43(2), 161-169. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1043-951X(02)00070-6.

Cameron, A. C., & Trivedi, P. K. (2009). Microeconometrics using stata (706 p.). USA: Stata Press Books.

Cameron, G., Proudman, J., & Redding, S. (2005). Technological convergence, R&D, trade and productivity growth. European Economic Review, 49(3), 775-807. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0014-2921(03)00070-9.

Carlino, G. A., Chatterjee, S., & Hunt, R. M. (2001). Knowledge spillovers: cities’ role in the new economy. Business Review Q, 4, 17-24. http://dx.doi.org/10.21799/frbp.wp.

Chen, D. (2011). Internationalization of higher education in China and its development direction. Higher Education Studies, 1(1), 79-83.

Chen, E. K. (1997). The total factor productivity debate: determinants of economic growth in east Asia. Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, 11(1), 18-38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8411.00002.

Choi, I. (2001). Unit root tests for panel data. Journal of International Money and Finance, 20(2), 249-272. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0261-5606(00)00048-6.

Coe, D. T., & Helpman, E. (1995). International R&D spillovers. European Economic Review, 39(5), 859-887. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0014-2921(94)00100-E.

Coelli, T. J., & Rao, D. S. (2005). Total factor productivity growth in agriculture: a malmquist index analysis of 93 countries. Agricultural Economics, 32(1), 115-134. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0169-5150.2004.00018.x.

Cohen, W. M., & Levinthal, D. A. (1990). Absorptive capacity: a new perspective on learning and innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35(1), 128-152. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2393553.

Comin, D. (2006). Total factor productivity. An eponymous dictionary of economics. In S. Derlauf & L. Blum (Eds.), In the new palgrave dictionary of economics (2nd ed., pp. 1-5). Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

Di Liberto, A., Pigliaru, F., & Mura, R. (2008). How to measure the unobservable: a panel technique for the analysis of TFP convergence. Oxford Economic Papers, 60(2), 343-368. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oep/gpm022.

Escribano, A., Fosfuri, A., & Tribó, J. A. (2009). Managing external knowledge flows: the moderating role of absorptive capacity. Research Policy, 38(1), 96-105. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2008.10.022.

Feenstra, R. C., Li, Z., & Yu, M. (2014). Exports and credit constraints under incomplete information: theory and evidence to China. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 96(4), 729-744. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/REST_a_00405.

Felema, J., Raiher, A. P., & Ferreira, C. R. (2013). Agropecuária brasileira: desempenho regional e determinantes de produtividade. Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural, 51(3), 555-574. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0103-20032013000300008.

Felipe, J. (2000). On the myth and mystery of Singapore’s Zero TFP. Asian Economic Journal, 14(2), 187-209. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8381.00108.

Ferrara, E. L., & Marcellino, M. (2000). TFP, costs and public infrastructure: an equivocal relationship (IGIER Working Paper, No. 176). USA: SSRN.

Ferraz, D., Costa, N. J. D., Fernandes, B., Silva, E. P., Marques, P. H. M., Moralles, H. F., & Rebelatto, D. (2018a). Analysis of absorptive capacity and foreign direct investment in the productivity of Brazilian municipalities. Production, 28(0), 28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0103-6513.20180050.

Ferraz, D., Moralles, H. F., Campoli, J. S., Oliveira, F. C. R. D., & Rebelatto, D. A. D. N. (2018b). Economic complexity and human development: DEA performance measurement in Asia and Latin America. Gestão & Produção, 25(4), 839-853. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0104-530x3925-18.

Fischer, M. M., & Varga, A. (2003). Spatial knowledge spillovers and university research: evidence from Austria. The Annals of Regional Science, 37(2), 303-322. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s001680200115.

Fleisher, B., Li, H., & Zhao, M. Q. (2010). Human capital, economic growth, and regional inequality in China. Journal of Development Economics, 92(2), 215-231. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2009.01.010.

Frantzen, D. (2000). R&D, human capital and international technology spillovers: a cross-country analysis. The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 102(1), 57-75. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9442.00184.

Fritsch, M., & Franke, G. (2004). Innovation, regional knowledge spillovers and R&D cooperation. Research Policy, 33(2), 245-255. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0048-7333(03)00123-9.

Fujiwara, A. (2017). The knowledge spillover resulting from the mobility of knowledge workers. In: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Industrial Technology and Management. USA: IEEE. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ICITM.2017.7917918.

Glaeser, E. L., Scheinkman, J. A., & Shleifer, A. (1995). Economic growth in a cross-section of cities. Journal of Monetary Economics, 36(1), 117-143. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0304-3932(95)01206-2.

Greene, W. H. (2003). Econometric analysis. Chennai, Tamil Nadu: Pearson Education India.

Griffith, R., Huergo, E., Mairesse, J., & Peters, B. (2006). Innovation and productivity across four european countries. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 22(4), 483-498. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxrep/grj028.

Griffith, R., Redding, S., & Reenen, J. V. (2003). R&D and absorptive capacity: theory and empirical evidence. The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 105(1), 99-118. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9442.00007.

Griffith, R., Redding, S., & Van Reenen, J. (2004). Mapping the two faces of R&D: productivity growth in a panel of OECD industries. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 86(4), 883-895. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/0034653043125194.

Grossman, G. M., & Helpman, E. (1991). Trade, knowledge spillovers, and growth. European Economic Review, 35(2-3), 517-526. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0014-2921(91)90153-A.

Haaland, J. I., & Kind, H. K. (2008). R&D policies, trade and process innovation. Journal of International Economics, 74(1), 170-187. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2007.04.001.

Hall, B. H., & Mairesse, J. (1995). Exploring the relationship between R&D and productivity in french manufacturing firms. Journal of Econometrics, 65(1), 263-293. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0304-4076(94)01604-X.

Harhoff, D. (1998). R&D and productivity in german manufacturing firms. Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 6(1), 29-50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10438599800000012.

Hulten, C. R. (2001). Total factor productivity: a short biography. In C. R. Hulten, E. R. Dean and M. J. Harper. New developments in productivity analysis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226360645.003.0001.

Isaksson, A. (2007). Determinants of total factor productivity: a literature review. Resarch and statistics branch. Viena: United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

Jeong, H., & Townsend, R. M. (2007). Sources of TFP growth: occupational choice and financial deepening. Economic Theory, 32(1), 179-221. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00199-006-0201-8.

Kalirajan, K. P., Obwona, M. B., & Zhao, S. (1996). A decomposition of total factor productivity growth: the case of chinese agricultural growth before and after reforms. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 78(2), 331-338. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1243706.

Keller, W., & Yeaple, S. R. (2009). Multinational enterprises, international trade, and productivity growth: firm level evidence from the United States. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 91(4), 821-831. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/rest.91.4.821.

Konno, T. (2016). Knowledge spillover processes as complex networks. Physica A, 462, 1207-1214. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physa.2016.06.124.

Le, T. (2008). “Brain Drain” or “Brain Circulation”: evidence From OECD’s International Migration and R&D Spillovers. Main, 55(5), 618-636. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9485.2008.00468.x.

Le, T. (2010). Are student flows a significant channel of R&D spillovers from the north to the south? Economics Letters, 107(3), 315-317. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2009.12.018.

Le, T. (2012). R&D spillovers through student flows, institutions, and economic growth: what can we learn from African countries? Scottish Journal of Political Economy, 59(1), 115-130. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9485.2011.00571.x.

Lee, G. (2005). Direct versus Indirect International R&D Spillovers. Information Economics and Policy, 17(3), 334-348. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.infoecopol.2004.12.001.

Li, X. (2011). Sources of external technology, absorptive capacity, and innovation capability in chinese state-owned high-tech enterprises. World Development, 39(7), 1240-1248. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2010.05.011.

Lichtenberg, F. R., & Pottelsberghe de la Potterie, B. (1998). International R&D spillovers: a comment. European Economic Review, 42(8), 1483-1491. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0014-2921(97)00089-5.

Lin, T. C. (2003). Education, technocal progress and economic growth: the case of Taiwan. Economics of Education Review, 22(2), 213-220. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7757(02)00030-4.

Lipsey, R. G., & Carlaw, K. (2000). What does total factor productivity measure? International Productivity Monitor, 1, 31-40.

Lipsey, R. G., & Carlaw, K. I. (2004). Total factor productivity and the measurement of technological change. The Canadian Journal of Economics. Revue Canadienne d’Economique, 37(4), 1118-1150. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0008-4085.2004.00263.x.

Liu, X., & Buck, T. (2007). Innovation performance and channels for international technology spillovers: evidence from chinese high-tech industries. Research Policy, 36(3), 355-366. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2006.12.003.

Luintel, K. B., & Khan, M. (2017). Ideas production and international knowledge spillovers: digging deeper into emerging countries. Research Policy, 46(10), 1738-1754. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2017.07.009.

Lumenga-Neso, O., Olarreaga, M., & Schiff, M. (2005). On indirect trade-related R&D spillovers. European Economic Review, 49(7), 1785-1798. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2004.06.004.

Madsen, J. B. (2007). Technology spillover through trade and TFP convergence: 120 years of evidence for the OECD countries. Journal of International Economics, 72(2), 464-480. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2006.12.001.

Madsen, J. B. (2008). Economic growth, TFP convergence and the world export of ideas: a century of evidence. The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 110(1), 145-167. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9442.2008.00530.x.

Marshall, A. (1961). Principles of economics (9th ed.). London: Macmillan.

Maudos, J., Pastor, J. M., & Seranno, L. (1999). Total factor productivity measurement and human capital in OECD countries. Economics Letters, 6(6), 389-392. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/135048599353159.

Maurseth, P. B., & Verspagen, B. (2002). Knowledge spillovers in europe: a patent citations analysis. The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 104(4), 531-545. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9442.00300.

Mendi, P. (2007). Trade in disembodied technology and total factor productivity in OECD countries. Research Policy, 36(1), 121-133. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2006.09.028.

Messa, A. (2013). Indicadores de produtividade: Uma breve revisão dos principais métodos de cálculo. Radar: Tecnologia. Produção e Comércio Exterior, 28, 2013.

Miller, S. M., & Upadhyay, M. P. (2002). Total factor productivity and the convergence hypothesis. Journal of Macroeconomics, 24(2), 267-286. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0164-0704(02)00022-8.

Moralles, H. F., & Rebelatto, D. A. N. (2016). The effects and time lags of R&D spillovers in Brazil. Technology in Society, 47, 148-155. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2016.10.002.

Moralles, H. F., Rebelatto, D. A. N., & Sartoris, A. (2013). Parametric VaR with goodness-of-fit tests based on EDF statistics for extreme returns. Mathematical and Computer Modelling, 58(9-10), 1648-1658.

Narula, R., & Marin, A. (2003). FDI spillovers, absorptive capacities and human capital development: evidence from Argentina (MERIT - Infonomics Research Memorandum Series). The Netherlands: Merit.

Nordhaus, W. D., & Samuelson, P. (2012). Economía (19. ed.). Porto Alegre: AMGH Editora.

Oketch, M. O. (2006). Determinants of human capital formation and economic growth of african countries. Economics of Education Review, 25(5), 554-564. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2005.07.003.

Park, J. (2004). International student flows and R&D spillovers. Economics Letters, 82(3), 315-320. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2003.07.012.

Park, J. (2006). Dispersion of human capital and economic growth. Journal of Macroeconomics, 28(3), 520-539. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmacro.2004.09.004.

Ponds, R., Oort, F. V., & Frenken, K. (2010). Innovation, spillovers and university-industry collaboration: an extended knowledge production function approach. Journal of Economic Geography, 10(2), 231-255. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jeg/lbp036.

Qiu, S., Liu, X., & Gao, T. (2017). Do emerging countries prefer local knowledge or distant knowledge? Spillover effect of university collaborations on local firms. Research Policy, 46(7), 1299-1311. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2017.06.001.

Rodríguez-Gulías, M. J., Rodeiro-Pazos, D., & Fernández-López, S. (2017). The effect of university and regional knowledge spillovers on firms’ performance: an analysis of the Spanish USOs. The International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 13(1), 191-209. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11365-016-0399-2.

Rudd, J. B. (2000). Empirical evidence on human capital spillovers. USA: Federal Reserve Board.

Seetanah, B. (2009). The economic importance of education. Journal of Applied Econometrics, 12(1), 137-157.

Self, S., & Grabowski, R. (2003). Education and long-run development in Japan. Journal of Asian Economics, 14(4), 565-580. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1049-0078(03)00095-2.

Self, S., & Grabowski, R. (2004). Does education at all levels cause growth? India, a case study. Economics of Education Review, 23(1), 47-55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7757(03)00045-1.

Spulber, D. F. (2008). Innovation and international trade in technology. Journal of Economic Theory, 138(1), 1-20.

Tang, L., & Koveos, P. E. (2008). Embodied and disembodied R&D spillovers to developed and developing countries. International Business Review, 17(5), 546-558. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2008.03.002.

Verspagen, B. (1995). R&D and productivity: a broad cross-section cross-country look. Journal of Productivity Analysis, 6(2), 117-135. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01073407.

Vinding, A. L. (2006). Absorptive capacity and innovative performance: a human capital approach. Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 15(4-5), 507-517. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10438590500513057.

Waheed, A. (2017). Innovation and firm-level productivity: evidence from Bangladesh. The Developing Economies, 55(4), 290-314. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/deve.12152.

Wang, C. C., & Wu, A. (2016). Geographical FDI knowledge spillover and innovation of indigenous firms in China. International Business Review, 25(4), 895-906.

Weil, D. (2012). Economic growth (3rd ed.). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.

Wennberg, K., Wiklund, J., & Wright, M. (2011). The effectiveness of university knowledge spillovers: performance differences between university spinoffs and corporate spinoffs. Research Policy, 40(8), 1128-1143. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2011.05.014.

Wolff, E. N. (2000). Human capital investment and economic growth: exploring the cross-contry evidence. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 11(4), 433-472. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0954-349X(00)00030-8.

Yu, H. (2017). Networking China: the digital transformation of the chinese economy (pp. 817-819). Chicago: University of Illinois Press.

Zhang, C., & Zhuang, L. (2011). The composition of human capital and economic growth: evidence from China using dynamic panel data. China Economic Review, 22(1), 165-171. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2010.11.001.

Zhang, H., Patton, D., & Kenney, M. (2013). Building global-class universities: assessing the impact of the 985 project. Research Policy, 42(3), 765-775. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2012.10.003.
 

5db9a36d0e88255563aa50ad production Articles
Links & Downloads

Production

Share this page
Page Sections