Absorptive Capacity, R&D Spillovers and Product Variety: An Empirical Evidence for Tunisia

Abstract

Economic and technological performance of a developing country like
Tunisia depends on its R&D efforts as well as its absorptive capacity of
foreign R&D. In spite of launching several ambitious R & D projects, many
gaps characterizing absorptive capacity still persist. For better locating the
origin of these gaps, this study examines the effect of both the national and
foreign absorptive capacity on the competitive position of Tunisia based on
the product variety.
Thus, the two main problems analyzed within this paper include: First, the
analysis of aggregation process of absorptive capacity on a macroeconomic
scale by distinguishing the various sources of R&D spillovers i.e. national or
foreign, intra-industrial or inter-industrial. Second, the study empirically
analyzes the effect of absorptive capacity on the product variety.