Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 02/2012

Knowledge, FDI and catching-up strategies

Francisco . Sercovich

December 2011

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

Abstract

There are policies that drive catching-up industrialization other than, but related to, those focused on FDI inflows. The shortening of catching-up periods owes much to the increasing effectiveness of policies addressing education and training, entrepreneurship development and domestic innovation and technology diffusion. FDI inflows work best when those policies are in place. Domestic absorption and innovative capability development policies are also essential.