Foreign Trade, Education, and Innovative Performance: A Multilevel Analysis

Abstract

This study analyses the innovative performance of 5,273 companies across 64 different economic sectors and 32 different regions in Colombia. We assess the effects of education and open economy variables on the innovative performance of firms by analyzing firm, sectoral, and regional level determinants. The study takes the multilevel approach of the innovation process considering the structure and behavior of innovation systems in developing countries. We furthermore focus on technology transfer from foreign trade and the role of education in the process of innovation. We find that education and open economy variables have a significant relationship with innovation performance at the firm and regional levels. We finally conclude that Colombia has a fragmented innovation system with a weak institutional structure, and low interaction between policymakers, industry, universities, research centers.