Exporters and International Knowledge Transfer : Evidence from UK Firms

Within the recent literature studying participation in international markets using micro data, a small number have suggested that firms benefit from their exposure to international markets. One channel considered for this role has been investments in Ramp;D. A common finding in this literature is that firms involved in international trade are also more likely to also undertake Ramp;D. In this paper we expand the question to consider whether exporters also differ from non-exporters in the knowledge inputs used for Ramp;D. Using data for UK firms we find that while in general this is so, non-exporters also involve themselves in international knowledge transfer