Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/121073 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
FIW Working Paper No. 73
Publisher: 
FIW - Research Centre International Economics, Vienna
Abstract: 
The absorptive capacity represents the ability of enterprises to efficiently absorb and internalise knowledge from outside: it represents the link between firms' capabilities to implement new products and the external stock of technological opportunities, such as those spilled-out from Multinational Enterprises (MNEs). In this framework, the present paper aims at testing the absorptive capacity of Italian firms arising from inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Given the peculiar characteristics of the Italian productive system, our analysis will focus on three different dimensions: technology gap between foreign and local enterprises, domestic firm size, and geographical distribution of firms. Our findings suggest that technological gap and firm size matter considerably for the spillover effect. Moreover, spillovers exhibit a subnational dimension, being present only in North-East region of the Peninsula.
Subjects: 
absorptive capacity
MNEs
FDI spillovers
technology gap
firm size
regionality
JEL: 
L33
F23
O17
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
410.33 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.