Localized Knowledge Spillovers and Organizational Capabilities: Evidence from the Canadian Manufacturing Sector

Purpose - This study empirically investigates how the effects of localized knowledge spillovers on technology adoption are conditional on the organizational capabilities of potential adopters. Design/methodology - The empirical model utilized in this study examines how the presence of prior adopters of advanced manufacturing technologies affects a plant’s technology adoption decision differently based on its organizational capabilities, measured by plant size and plant status (single- plant firm vs. multi-plant firm). Moreover, this study investigates how the scope of knowledge spillovers from prior adopters, both in terms of geographical and functional proximities, differ for plants with different organizational capabilities. Findings - The main findings of this study are as follows: 1. Although plants with lower organizational capabilities are less likely to adopt advanced technologies, such plants receive greater marginal benefits from knowledge spillovers from prior adopters in their region. 2. Plants with greater organizational capabilities can benefit from knowledge spillovers from a wider set of prior adopters. In other words, while plants with lower organizational capabilities tend to benefit from knowledge spillovers from “similar” and “local” adopters, plants with greater organizational capabilities can also benefit from knowledge spillovers from “not-too-similar” or are geographically distant prior adopters. Originality/value - While existing studies mainly focus on the effects of the various kinds of regional agglomeration, few studies investigate localized knowledge spillovers in technology adoption. Moreover, no prior studies have explored how the effects of knowledge spillovers on technology adoption depend on a plant’s organizational capabilities and how the scope of knowledge spillovers differs for plants with different organizational capabilities. This study is the first to empirically investigate this topic.