THE DETERMINANTS OF TECHNOLOGICAL PRODUCT EXPORT IN HIGH INCOME COUNTRIES: AN INVESTIGATION ON THE EFFECTS OF ECONOMIC GROWTH, FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS AND R&D EXPENDITURES

Year 2020, Volume: 15 Issue: 1, 299 - 308, 24.06.2020

Ömer Faruk Biçen

Abstract

It is a known fact that behind the rapid transformation in the world economy in the last 40 years, technological transformation and the qualitative and qualitative development of opportunities have serious effects. High income countries, which have a voice in the world economy, achieve this dominance by developing new products, processes and methods or, in short, through innovation activities. While the development gap between countries has been reduced to differences between savings and investment opportunities in the past, this gap between countries is being pushed in a more complex direction. This composition, which is valid for production activities, is also valid for foreign trade activities. Countries that cannot participate in the global economy with innovative products, processes or methods cannot get enough shares in the global trade of goods and services. This means that the development gap persists or this gap grows further.

Today, the products that developing countries participate in export are mostly natural resources, raw materials and labor-intensive industrial products. High-income countries, on the other hand, include space technologies, computers, pharmaceuticals, electrical machines, chemistry, electronics and telecommunications, etc. They have come to the fore in the export of technological products, which include sectors. Low-income countries need to strengthen their technological infrastructure in order to get more share from global trade and to initiate a sustainable growth process. There are two options in front of low income countries. The first is to reach a certain technological infrastructure by means of its own R&D activities. The other is to obtain new technologies through foreign direct investments. The function of foreign direct investments here is very important. Foreign direct investments are more important than R&D activities, especially in low-income countries with weak technological infrastructure. After the countries that have reached a certain technological infrastructure thanks to foreign direct investments have started the growth process, the growth itself can also support the export of technological products by increasing domestic investments, supporting technological developments and causing an increase in the global competitiveness of the goods subject to trade.

The main purpose of the study is to determine the determining factors of technological product exports in high-income countries with a high share in technological product exports. Within the framework of the World Bank classification, the determinants of technological product exports in thirty-eight countries within the high income group were examined for the period 2000-2015. The variables that are accepted as the determining factors of technological product exports are economic growth, foreign direct investments and R&D expenditures in parallel with the studies in the literature.

Three different models were created for the effects of economic growth, foreign direct investments and R&D expenditures on technological product exports. As a result of the preliminary tests and cointegration tests, it was concluded that there is a significant relationship between R&D expenditures and technological product exports in the long term.

It has been observed that the findings of short and long term coefficients of the relationship between R&D expenditures and technological product exports differ from each other. Accordingly, the 1% increase in R&D expenditures increased the export of technological products by about 0.78% in the short term, while the coefficient is insignificant in the long run. In short, R&D spending affects the export of technological products only in the short term, and has no effect in the long term. It is concluded that Error Correction Parameter is also negative and meaningful. Accordingly, approximately 63% of the imbalances that occur in one period are eliminated in the next period.

It is seen that the findings obtained overlap with some of the studies examined in the literature and diverge with others. However, it would not be correct to make a direct comparison, as some of these studies do not distinguish between high and low income countries. The comparison between the results reached in the study and the results of the studies dealing with high income countries in the literature is more meaningful. According to this; Braunerhjelm and Thulin (2006), Sandu and Ciocanel (2014) and Kılıç et al. (2014), it was concluded that R&D expenditures in high-income countries will increase the export of technological products. Similarly, in the study of Braunerhjelm and Thulin (2006), the finding that economic growth (or market width) has no effect on the export of technological products, as in this study, is important.

Gökmen and Türen (2013) and Kabaklarli et al., Who reached a different result from the findings of this study. In the studies of (2017), foreign direct investments in high-income countries positively affect the export of technological products. Similarly, Kabaklarli et al. According to (2017), economic growth negatively affects technological product exports.

When the results obtained in the study are evaluated together with the studies in the literature, the determinants of technological product exports in high and low income countries differ from each other. While foreign direct investments are more prominent in low income countries, R&D investments are more important for high income countries with a certain technological infrastructure. However, the impact of R&D investments is also short-term. In the long term, it said that low-income countries that invest in technology, strengthen their technological infrastructure, attract foreign direct investment, and achieve rapid growth are more advantageous than high-income countries in the long term, compared to high-income countries where slow-growing and R&D spending has a limited impact on long-term technological product exports

YÜKSEK GELİRLİ ÜLKELERDE TEKNOLOJİK ÜRÜN İHRACATININ BELİRLEYİCİLERİ: EKONOMİK BÜYÜME, DOĞRUDAN YABANCI YATIRIMLAR VE AR-GE HARCAMALARININ ETKİLERİNE YÖNELİK BİR İNCELEME

Abstract

Küresel ekonomide ülkelerin gelişmişlik düzeyine yönelik en önemli göstergelerden biri de küresel mal piyasalarına ihraç edilen ürünlerin teknolojik içeriğidir. Dünya Bankası verileri incelendiğinde dünyadaki toplam teknolojik ürün ihracatının yaklaşık % 61,5’i yüksek gelirli ülkeler tarafından yapılmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı da, 2000-2015 döneminde yüksek gelirli otuz sekiz ülkede ekonomik büyüme, doğrudan yabancı yatırımlar ve AR-GE harcamalarının teknolojik ürün ihracatı üzerindeki etkilerini incelemektir. Panel eşbütünleşme testi sonucunda sadece AR-GE harcamaları ile teknolojik ürün ihracatı verileri arasında uzun dönemli bir ilişkiye ulaşılmıştır. Elde edilen sonuçlara göre; AR-GE harcamalarında % 1 düzeyindeki artış kısa dönemde teknolojik ürün ihracatını yaklaşık % 0,78 arttırmaktayken, uzun dönemde ise katsayı anlamsız olarak bulunmuştur.

Keywords

Teknolojik Ürün İhracatı, Ekonomik Büyüme, Doğrudan Yabancı Yatırımlar, Ar-Ge Harcamaları

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