Overview of technology transfer in the manufacturing industries in the Arab countries: the case of UAE and Sudan

摘要

Purpose This paper aims to examine the channels and effects of technology transfer in industrial manufacturing firms in the Arab region, with particular reference to the UAE and Sudan. Methodology This paper uses descriptive and comparative approaches and utilises the definition of technology transfer often found in the international literature to examine the channels and effects of technology transfer in industrial manufacturing firms in the Arab region. An examination of the industrial manufacturing firms in the UAE and Sudan is mostly based on primary data collected from the firm surveys in the UAE (2002) and Sudan (2010). Findings The findings support the first hypothesis that industrial manufacturing firms in the Arab region use several channels of technology transfer. Our results corroborate the second hypothesis that the channels of technology transfer and their respective effects vary enormously across firms according to firm size and industry level in the industrial manufacturing firms in the Arab region. Our findings support the third hypotheses that technology transfer creates important positive effects in industrial manufacturing firms in the Arab region. Originality/value This paper is valuable because it fills the gap in the Arab literature by presenting a more comprehensive, focused and comparative analysis and investigating the channels and effects of technology transfer in industrial manufacturing firms in the UAE and Sudan, based on the firm surveys in the UAE (2002) and Sudan (2010), since these issues are not adequately discussed in the Arab literature. Moreover, the paper supports the efforts aimed at enhancing the positive effects of technology transfer for both building the absorptive capacity and building knowledge-based economies in the Arab region. The findings imply that it is essential for the Arab region to support the absorptive capacity in order to utilise the effects of technology transfer to boost industrial firms and to achieve sustainable economic development in the UAE, Sudan and the Arab region.