Trade and Innovation in MENA

This paper examines trade participation and innovation activities and how they are intertwined in the Middle East and North Africa region. While the level of trade participation of firms in the region is similar to other peer economies, innovation...

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Main Authors: Ficarra, Matteo, Gökten, Meryem, Harasztosi, Péter, Koczán, Zsóka, Lesma, Roberta, Pál, Rozália, Weiss, Christoph
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099425305102294993/IDU01726d5a5084da04e230906702670c573b889
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37528
id okr-10986-37528
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-375282022-06-11T05:10:35Z Trade and Innovation in MENA Ficarra, Matteo Gökten, Meryem Harasztosi, Péter Koczán, Zsóka Lesma, Roberta Pál, Rozália Weiss, Christoph TRADE INNOVATION FIRM PERFORMANCE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT COVID-19 DISRUPTION TRADE PARTICIPATION TECHNICAL SKILLS BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY DIFFUSION TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER This paper examines trade participation and innovation activities and how they are intertwined in the Middle East and North Africa region. While the level of trade participation of firms in the region is similar to other peer economies, innovation rates are particularly low. Many productive firms, especially smaller firms, might not be able to reap the scale and efficiency benefits from trade and innovation activity because of the weak business environment in the region. The paper shows that innovative firms tend to be more productive when they trade, while exporters tend to grow faster (in terms of sales) when they also invest in innovation. In addition, the use of foreign-licensed technology appears to have a key role in innovation, even after controlling for the effects of trade participation and foreign ownership. The paper also finds that traders and innovative firms were more likely to adapt to the COVID-19 crisis and the associated sharp sales shock. Overall, the results confirm the importance of international technology diffusion in the innovation process through access to foreign markets. 2022-06-10T20:54:28Z 2022-06-10T20:54:28Z 2022-06 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099425305102294993/IDU01726d5a5084da04e230906702670c573b889 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37528 English Policy Research Working Papers;10060 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Working Paper Middle East and North Africa
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic TRADE
INNOVATION
FIRM PERFORMANCE
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
COVID-19 DISRUPTION
TRADE PARTICIPATION
TECHNICAL SKILLS
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS
INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY DIFFUSION
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
spellingShingle TRADE
INNOVATION
FIRM PERFORMANCE
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
COVID-19 DISRUPTION
TRADE PARTICIPATION
TECHNICAL SKILLS
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS
INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY DIFFUSION
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
Ficarra, Matteo
Gökten, Meryem
Harasztosi, Péter
Koczán, Zsóka
Lesma, Roberta
Pál, Rozália
Weiss, Christoph
Trade and Innovation in MENA
geographic_facet Middle East and North Africa
relation Policy Research Working Papers;10060
description This paper examines trade participation and innovation activities and how they are intertwined in the Middle East and North Africa region. While the level of trade participation of firms in the region is similar to other peer economies, innovation rates are particularly low. Many productive firms, especially smaller firms, might not be able to reap the scale and efficiency benefits from trade and innovation activity because of the weak business environment in the region. The paper shows that innovative firms tend to be more productive when they trade, while exporters tend to grow faster (in terms of sales) when they also invest in innovation. In addition, the use of foreign-licensed technology appears to have a key role in innovation, even after controlling for the effects of trade participation and foreign ownership. The paper also finds that traders and innovative firms were more likely to adapt to the COVID-19 crisis and the associated sharp sales shock. Overall, the results confirm the importance of international technology diffusion in the innovation process through access to foreign markets.
format Working Paper
author Ficarra, Matteo
Gökten, Meryem
Harasztosi, Péter
Koczán, Zsóka
Lesma, Roberta
Pál, Rozália
Weiss, Christoph
author_facet Ficarra, Matteo
Gökten, Meryem
Harasztosi, Péter
Koczán, Zsóka
Lesma, Roberta
Pál, Rozália
Weiss, Christoph
author_sort Ficarra, Matteo
title Trade and Innovation in MENA
title_short Trade and Innovation in MENA
title_full Trade and Innovation in MENA
title_fullStr Trade and Innovation in MENA
title_full_unstemmed Trade and Innovation in MENA
title_sort trade and innovation in mena
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2022
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099425305102294993/IDU01726d5a5084da04e230906702670c573b889
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37528
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