This paper discusses the occurrence of skill-enhancing technology import, namely the relationship between imports of embodied technology and widening skill-based employment di¤erentials in low and middle-income countries. GMM techniques are applied to an original panel dataset comprising 28 manufacturing sectors for 23 countries over a decade. Econometric results provide robust evidence of the ...

The paper investigates the situation of middle-income economies around the world. Since 1965, only 18 economies with a population of more than 3 million and not dependent on oil exports have made the transition to being high income. Many more have not been able to move beyond the middle-income stage. We conduct statistical tests of differences between two groups of economies across a range of g...

Drawing on the stylized facts and evidences, in a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, this paper examines the impact on TFP of North–South, North–North trade-related triangular R&D spillovers. By constructing different technology appropriation parameters based on embodied and disembodied R&D, absorption and learning effects, it shows: (i) North–South R&D flows have a positive impact on ...

This paper introduces service innovation in the proximity-concentration trade-off model of trade and FDI (Helpman, Melitz and Yeaple, 2004). The idea is that innovation will have two main effects on service firms’ choice between exports and FDI. First, innovative firms will on average have higher productivity levels than non-innovative enterprises. Secondly, innovators will have to pay a higher...

For some time there has been an increase in adoption of enterprise systems by small companies. With welldocumented potential benefits, there are a lot of reasons to adopt them. In this study however the choice to adopt smaller pieces of information systems by a small organization is investigated to provide a counter example to the integrated-solution literature. With the intention to adopt an e...

Globalization, high growth rates in high-tech industries, growing emerging markets and harmonization of patent institutions across countries have stimulated patenting in foreign markets. We use a simple model of international patenting, where the decision to patent in a foreign country depends on country characteristics and the quality of the patented invention. With access to a detailed databa...

The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate. Despite strong economic growth, a "U"-curve unemployment phenomenon in Mauritius can be observed. Unemployment plunged from 21 percent to les...

We estimate productivities at the sector level for 72 countries and 5 decades, and examine how they evolve over time in both developed and developing countries. In both country groups, comparative advantage has become weaker: productivity grew systematically faster in sectors that were initially at greater comparative disadvantage. These changes have had a significant impact on trade volumes an...

This paper investigates whether there is convergence in Total Factor Productivity at the establishment level, to the technological frontier. We find evidence of convergence to the frontier, which suggests the existence of technological spillovers. The speed of catch-up does not appear to vary with the extent of foreign presence in the industry. But foreign multinationals do make up a significan...

This paper estimates returns to research and development (R&D) in Chinese industry. Using a firm-level dataset on innovation activity in largeand medium-size industrial enterprises during 1991 to 1997 in the Beijing area, we estimate three equations – an R&D expenditure equation, a production function, and a profit function. Panel data estimation methods are applied to a semibalanced data set c...