This paper investigates whether increased import competition leads firms to engage in incremental innovation reflected in product quality upgrading. The econometric analysis relies on a rich dataset of Chilean manufacturing firms and their products. Product quality is measured with unit values...

Over the past two decades, globalization, and more specifically the increased exposure to competition from low-price producers in China and India, has created a new economic environment for other emerging economies. The most advantageous way for manufacturing firms in those economies to position...

While innovation is a source of competitiveness, it may expose plants to survival risks. Using a rich set of plant-product data for Chilean manufacturing plants during the period 1996-2006 and discrete-time hazard models controlling for unobserved plant heterogeneity, this paper shows that...

During the 1990s, foreign direct investment in producer service sectors in Latin America was massive. Such investment may increase the quality of services, reduce their cost, and offer opportunities for knowledge spillovers to downstream users of the services. This paper examines the effects of...

This paper examines the impact of substantial foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in producer service sectors on the total factor productivity (TFP) of Chilean manufacturing firms. Positive effects are obtained in firm fixed effects instrumental variables regressions and show that forward...

This paper investigates whether increased import competition leads firms to engage in incremental innovation reflected in product quality upgrading using Chilean manufacturing firmproduct data and measuring product quality with unit values (prices). We identify causal effects of import...

Inclusive development is a key policy priority since growth processes have not always helped lowerincome groups. Innovation is a major driver of growth and its relationship with inequalities in income and opportunities raises some important policy questions: Do innovation and the resulting...

Imports are often perceived as a threat to employment. However, access to imported intermediate inputs can be essential to stimulate innovation and generate employment. We investigate this question based on a unique dataset of Ecuadorian manufacturing firms, their final products and intermediate...

The longer term impact of the global crisis depends on how business innovation capacities were affected. Understanding which firms suffered most is essential for developing adequate post-crisis recovery policies. This paper provides first quantitative evidence on these questions based on an...

This paper examines international technology transfers using firm-level data across 43 developing countries. Our findings show that exporting and importing activities are important channels for the transfer of technology. Majority foreign-owned firms are less likely to engage in technological...