Knowledge Absorption in the Development of Export Products

In this paper we analyze how firms’ knowledge absorption capacity – given the knowledge environment – affects the development, adoption and introduction of new export products among Swedish manufacturing firms. Our model formulation builds on theoretical arguments which imply that firms can influence the usefulness of their knowledge environment by establishing formal and informal networks with input suppliers (especially suppliers of knowledge-intensive business services) and by exploiting their absorptive capacity. The model suggests that the higher the knowledge absorption in firms, the higher the introduction frequency of new export products. In particular, it is the conjunction of a high absorptive capacity and a high external knowledge potential that makes certain firms successful introducers of new export products.