The Threshold Effect of Absorption Capacity on International R & D Spillovers and Total Factors Productivity in Developing Countries

In the current study, the effect of international spillovers of research and development on total factor productivity in developing countries has been investigated with considering the threshold effects of absorption capacity. The period the present study is 1995-2015, and the Panel smooth transition regression method has been used to investigate the issue. The results show that developing countries should reach certain levels of domestic absorption capacity so that international R & D inflows can improve the overall productivity of production factors. The coefficients show that bypassing the developing countries on the threshold of absorption capacity, the impact of international research and development overflows will increase on total factor productivity. In developing countries, with average per capita income exceeding capacity capping thresholds, the impact of overflows has increased dramatically and has had a greater impact on total factor productivity. However, in low-per capita countries that do not have adequate levels of absorption capacity, the impact of research and development overflows on total factor productivity has been reported to be negligible.