Learning from yourself or learning from neighbours: knowledge spillovers, institutional context and firm upgrading

Yi Zhou, Shengjun Zhu and Canfei He

Regional Studies, 2019, vol. 53, issue 10, 1397-1409

Abstract: Using a firm–product-level data set on China’s exports during the period 2000–11, we compare the impacts of intra- and inter-firm knowledge spillovers on the emergence of new, more sophisticated products at the firm level. Empirical results indicate that firm diversification is dependent on both intra- and inter-firm knowledge spillovers, though the effect of the former is much greater. More importantly, intra-firm knowledge spillovers are one key source of firm upgrading. In contrast, inter-firm knowledge spillovers even have some negative impacts on firm upgrading in the Chinese context, though it contributes to firm diversification. We further analyze how the roles of intra- and inter-firm knowledge spillovers in firm upgrading are contingent on regional institutional context.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1080/00343404.2019.1566705

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