The relationship between high-technology export and low-and-medium-technology export: Evidence and policy implications

This study attempts to find the quantitative relationship between high-technology (HT) export and low- and-medium-technology (LMT) export. We take the data from the website of World Bank and select 86 economies (countries and regions) in 2005 to explore the problem from three aspects. The research results show that there are significant relationship of ln-ln model between HT exports and LMT exports, between HT exports per capita and LMT exports per capita, and between HT exports and LMT exports per capita (every p-value of F-statistic is less than 0.001). In each relationship, the former is the dependent variable, and the latter is the independent variable. The coefficients of independent variables are 1.194, 1.250 and 1.232 respectively. And the ln-ln model fits better than other common regression model. In order to draw more valuable conclusion, this paper adds two dummy variables into the three ln-ln models: one is population; and another is income. Based on the empirical study of six models, a main policy implication is that for HT export, the support effect of LMT export is clear, and economies of different types have the obvious difference. When policy makers emphasize the importance of stimulating HT export, they should pay more attention to the significance of strengthening LMT export.