The effects of importing activities on technological and non-technological innovation: evidence from Chilean firms

José Pablo Montégu, Julio A. Pertuze and Carolina Calvo

International Journal of Emerging Markets, 2021, vol. 17, issue 7, 1659-1678

Abstract: Purpose - The authors analyzed the effects of importing activities on both technological and non-technological innovation in Chile. They contribute to the literature by hypothesizing and testing the idea that importing activities can foster the introduction of product, process, marketing and organizational innovations in emerging market firms. Design/methodology/approach - The authors used a combination of two economic surveys that included 1,347 Chilean companies. To test their hypotheses, they applied a variant of the Crépon-Duguet-Mairesse (CDM) model (Créponet al., 1998) accounting for technological and non-technological innovation outputs. Specifically, four alternative innovation output indicators were used to measure the introduction of product, process, marketing and organizational innovations. Findings - The results revealed that importing activities had positive effects on technological and non-technological innovation. Importers showed a significant advantage in the introduction of product, marketing and organizational innovations. Firms that both import and export (i.e. two-way traders) had an even greater advantage in the introduction of new or significantly improved products. Originality/value - The authors demonstrated a relationship between importing activities and both technological and non-technological innovation that is novel and relevant, particularly at a historical moment when COVID-19 poses huge economic challenges to emerging market firms. As trade disruptions caused by the pandemic have predisposed some governments to favor protectionist policies, the authors warn that erecting barriers against imports can hamper the innovative success of local businesses.

Keywords: Importing; International trade; Technological innovation; Non-technological innovation; Chile (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:ijoemp:ijoem-05-2020-0534

DOI: 10.1108/IJOEM-05-2020-0534

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Emerging Markets is currently edited by Prof Ilan Alon

More articles in International Journal of Emerging Markets from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().