Does foreign direct investment transfer technology across borders?: A reexamination

Abstract

Reexamining foreign direct investment (FDI) as a potential channel for knowledge diffusion - based on industry data from seventeen OECD countries during the period 1973-2000 - we find that FDI-receiving countries benefit strongly from FDI-related knowledge spillovers. We do not find evidence for positive FDI-related technology sourcing effects. Instead, our results suggest that outward FDI might have negative effects on the output of the FDI- sending country.