Domestic R&D and offshoring: does offshoring reduce knowledge production?

摘要

An important question in industrialized countries is whether offshoring activities reduce the probability of performing own research and development (R&D) or whetherthe R&D intensity falls in firms that already have R&D activities. This question is addressed using a unique data set that combines survey and register data. No evidence is found for a lower probability of own R&D after offshoring takes place compared to before. Moreover, offshoring does not lead to lower R&D intensity in general. However, firms that offshore R&D activity have larger R&D intensity after offshoring has taken place, which suggests that R&D performed at home is complementary to foreign R&D.