Open Access
Article
SciPap-937
Measuring the Size of the Technology Gap at a Level of Czech Regions
by
Sylvie Kotíková 1,*
1 Faculty of Economics, Department of Economics, Technical University of Liberec, Voroněžská 13, Liberec 1 460 01, Czechia
* Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract: The technology gap is one of key determinants of spillovers. This paper aims to quantify the size of the technology gap between foreign direct investments, which received investment incentives and business environment in six regions of the Czech Republic in time series of 2002-2014. The development of regional technology gap was determined by using the Shift-share analysis method - decomposition of the region's technological level into productivity, employment, and a combination of both of the effects. The main data source was the statistics issued decisions of investment incentives published by the agency CzechInvest; annual reports of foreign companies; data of the Czech Statistical Office and the OECD. The established indicator tracks the difference between the technological advancement of foreign firms and a regional business environment. The higher the value of this indicator than in other regions is, the higher the potential for technological growth the region has than regions compared. The magnitude of the value is given by the technological level of foreign companies and their share in regional employment. The best position takes the Pilsen region, which has the highest potential for spillovers in terms of the technology gap. On the contrary, the worst position has the Carlsbad region.
Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment, Foreign Presence, Investment Incentives, Productivity, Technology Gap
JEL classification: F23 - Multinational Firms • International Business, O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences • Diffusion Processes
SciPap 2018, 26(2), 937
Received: 25 August 2017 / Accepted: 1 March 2018 / Published: 23 August 2018
