An analysis of the relationship between technological import and indigenous R&D and their economic effects in the Korean industries

연구개발과 기술도입의 경제효과 및 상호관계 분석

Indigenous technological development and import of foreign technologies are two major sources of industrial innovation in Korea. This paper mainly deals with the analysis of the relationship between the two sources, employing the Tobit method. The estimation of the effects of those two sources on the firms' sales growth is also performed, including other exogenous variables such as fixed capital formation and the amount of exports, etc. in the model. Technological import is shown to be complimentary rather than substitute for or competitive with R&D in the Korean industries during 1990. This is understandable because R&D may be conducted to absorb and adapt the advanced imported technologies as well as to further more innovative technological development. Fixed capital formation is positively correlated with technology import, but negatively correlated with R&D. Technology importation seems to have contributed much more than R&D to the sales increase in the Korean industries.