STRUCTURAL CORRELATES OF HIGH-TECHNOLOGY EXPORTS: EVIDENCE FROM EXPORT-ORIENTED MIDDLE- INCOME ECONOMIES

Authors

High-technology exports, Trade openness, Economic development, FDI, Exchange rate, Panel data

This study explores structural factors of high-technology export performance of export-oriented

middle-income economies in 2010–2024. High-technology exports indicate value-added global

value chain integration, yet the comparative influence of domestic capabilities versus external

forces remains empirically contested. This ambiguity challenges mainstream assumptions

regarding the universal benefits of foreign direct investment and trade openness. This study

proposes a conditional structural framework to explicitly examine whether the impact of external

integration varies on the depth of domestic manufacturing capacity. To address this problem, the

study uses a macro-panel data framework and estimates fixed-effects models with year dummies

to compensate for unobserved heterogeneity and common global shocks. Driscoll–Kraay

standard errors was employed to account for heteroskedasticity, serial correlation and cross-

sectional dependence. The empirical results demonstrate that trade openness and economic

development (measured by GDP per capita) are the most robust and statistically significant

determinants of high-technology exports. On the other hand, the impact of foreign direct

investment inflows is limited and uncertain, which means that capital inflows alone are

insufficient to support technical upgrading. The exchange rate is highly adversely correlated with

high-technology exports, showing that currency depreciation may lead to a loss of

competitiveness in technology-intensive sectors due to the reliance on imported inputs. The

contribution of manufacturing value added to export performance is favorable but depends on

model specification. High-technology export performance is driven by local structural

capabilities and global integration rather than external capital, highlighting the need for

sustained investment in domestic innovation systems, digital infrastructure, and macroeconomic

stability.