ABSTRACT
Industries differ in terms of the extent of technological opportunities, appropriability, cumulativeness of technical competencies and the nature of the knowledge base (Pavitt 1984; Malerba and Orsenigo 1996; Breschi, Malerba, and Orsenigo 2000; Malerba 2005). Therefore, the extent to which firms from a sector could compete internationally may be influenced by the sectoral technological opportunities. Firms are likely to possess higher product quality and efficiency when they come from sectors with higher technological opportunities which may play an important role in promoting their export activities (Barrios, Gorg, and Strobl 2003). Sector-level R&D intensity (RDS), reflecting differences in sectoral technological opportunities, is thus predicted to favour firms’ export behaviour.
