Abstract
Whereas the technology spillover effect of
international trade has been widely concerned by academic circles, the impact
of trade barriers on technology spillover has received relatively less
attention. This paper assesses the heterogeneity of international technology
spillover effects in China’s manufacturing industry from traditional gross
trade and value-added trade perspectives. Moreover, a deep insight into the
effects of tariff and non-tariff barriers on international technology diffusion
from traditional gross trade and value-added trade perspectives is also
provided. Results show that the international trade indeed engenders technology
diffusion, which is especially true in value-added trade characterized by
intermediate goods trade compared with traditional gross trade. Additionally,
tariff barriers severely disrupt technology diffusion in international trade,
and traditional gross trade statistics underestimate the cumulative destructive
effect of trade barriers on technology diffusion. Consequently, it can be concluded
that reducing the abuse and misuse of non-tariff barriers can moderate the
negative effect of trade barriers on international technology diffusion.
JEL classification numbers: F14.
Keywords: Global
value chains; Value-added trade; Trade barriers; International technology
spillover; Manufacturing industry.