Developing countries' imports of technology, in-house technological capabilities and efforts: An analysis of the Indian experience

This paper examines whether enterprises' decisions to import technology are influenced by their in-house technological capabilities and whether the imports subsequently lead to an increase in the R&D intensities. It is argued that in a competitive market situation these decisions could be Linked in a sequential relationship, but protectionist regulatory policies may make such a relationship quite unlikely. Empirical tests with data of Indian enterprises in the electrical and electronic industries, circa 1990, found results consistent with the predictions for the protected regulatory situation. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.