High technology exports and economic growth

Especially at the end of the 20th century, as a result of globalization and the acceleration of the global integration process of developing economies, the global trade volume and international capital flows have increased dramatically. This process has enhanced the interaction of international knowledge and innovation, causing a significant change in the foreign trade policies and thus the foreign trade structures of developed and developing countries, and the competition at the local level moved to a global level. This also paved the way for especially developing economies to adopt foreign trade policies from an import substitution approach to export-based growth strategies, and high technology exports, export diversification and economic complexity have become important topics in the policy agenda for economic growth. As a matter of fact, many studies have been conducted in the theoretical and empirical literature to determine the effect of high technology exports and export composition on economic growth, especially in the context of developing countries. There is a general opinion in the literature that high technology exports pave the way for a more advanced technological development and increase foreign trade incomes, thus contributing to economic growth. However, it can also be argued that the possible benefits from high-tech trade are related to the absorptive capacity of countries. In this context, the gains from high technology exports may differ across economies with different levels of development and different structural dynamics. Therefore, it can be stated that the correct determination of the relationship between high technology exports and economic growth is of great importance in the design of appropriate foreign trade policies. In the light of these arguments, this study attempts to determine the effect of high technology exports on economic growth using the 2007-2020 period data for 33 developed and 60 developing countries. The empirical findings obtained from the static panel data models used within the scope of the study confirm the positive effect of high technology exports on economic growth. The results of the analysis also show that the impact of high technology exports on economic growth is higher in developed countries.