ABSORPTIVE CAPACITIES IN DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGICAL CONTEXTS

Abstract

Understanding the slow technological dynamism of contexts such as Latin America will help overcome technological flaws in various geographical regions. Therefore, this work seeks to identif y the factors that explain a weak technological absorption and the persistence of the “trap” of low technological learning. To facilitate the comparison of absorptive capacities (ac) with different degrees of development and the explanation of the persistence of technological backwardness, this paper integrates the literature on dynamic capacities, ac, and the studies that consider absorption as a process. The estimation of an ordered logit with interactions in industrial firms in the capital-region of Colombia shows several aspects: the explanatory potential of integrating the available literature on the sub-ject; the features of absorption processes that are associated with low ac and a weak absorptive performance; and a negative feedback between the phases of said processes that reinforce non-significant learnings and the persistence of technological backwardness.