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The purpose of this paper is to examine the presumed role played by foreign direct investment (FDI) in transferring technology from home country into a host country. This paper uses data from Albanian manufacturing industry; first, to examine whether foreign presence results in technology transfer and, if yes, what type of technology is more prevalent and to what extent? Second, the paper attempts to investigate the purported determinants of technology transfer.

The paper uses two main methodological approaches; first, the technology transfer was determined using an arithmetic index developed using simple arithmetic average. This index is determined using all the industries and taking six key components of technology into consideration. They included: products; production processes; technology and innovation; supplier and customers system; human resource management, training and reporting system; financial management, marketing and organizational structure. Second, assuming a limited dependent relationship between the variables and the technology transfer, a Tobit technique was proposed to examine the significant determinants of technology transfer. Technology transfer was proxied by the technology transfer index developed.

The results clearly demonstrate that FDI plays an important role in technology transfer and that notwithstanding the industrialization of Albania. As per the technology transfer index developed, product-related technology transfer ranked highest followed by the process-related technology. The Tobit results generated indicated that firm age, performance, absorptive capacity, labor mobility, innovation, demonstration effect and systematic support were all key determinants of technology transfer. Surprisingly, size of the firm did not seem to matter.

The results have possible managerial and policy ramifications. First, the government should continue to provide basic infrastructure. Second, the government needs to formulate policies focused on human capital accumulation. Third, policies should be focused on firm learning and innovation in order to build technological and absorptive capabilities. Moreover, there should be increased effort to facilitate and encourage R&D. Fourth, the government should coordinate and support the institutions especially those that play a crucial role in industrial investment promotion. Fifth, the government should encourage systemic interactions among different entities. Sixth, since high competition from foreign firms can crowd out domestic investment, strategic measures to regulate such competition should be enacted.

The novelty in this paper is the broad conceptualization of technology transfer to include not only the direct but also the indirect mode of technology transfer, which often takes place in the form of spillovers. The physical technology transfer, as well as, its actual impact in the economy is examined to ascertain that technology transfer indeed takes place. The analytical framework adopted overlaps international business, technology transfer and technological innovation literature strands to examine the holistic process of technology transfer.

Considering the importance of human capital in innovation, entrepreneurship and thus economic development, this study attempts to examine formal learning as a mechanism of human capital development in institutions of higher learning. Ironically, students in such institutions are automatically assumed to learn and accumulate pertinent capacity, which would then enable them to compete in the business world or pursue further studies in future. Consequently, lack of this cognizance culminates in little being known about how students learn to accumulate knowledge, skills and requisite competencies. Notwithstanding this, the challenges posed in the twenty-first century require well-rounded students those especially who can address the global transformations witnessed in the business arena. The purpose of this paper is an attempt to fill this gap using data from the University of Dubai (UD) to examine how formal learning takes place in an institution and what determines it.

Learning is conceptualized in terms of knowledge, skills and competencies accumulated as proxied by cumulative general point aggregate. All the data used came from the UD. In addition to in-depth descriptive analysis, the study uses limited dependent techniques to identify the most significant determinants of institutional learning.

The empirical results generated indicate that demographic characteristics such as age, nationality and gender had a positive effect on learning. Moreover, a student’s initial condition influenced his/her learning positively. Whereas the mode of study under personal preferences did not seem to affect learning, the number of course sections taken had a positive influence on learning. As anticipated, student transfer had a negative influence on learning. The number of credit hours accumulated affected learning positively.

The main limitation of this study is that results are only applicable within a limited geographical scope, and thus they cannot be generalized for global consumption. Nonetheless, the discussion and results obtained make insights to any future-related studies.

As pointed out in the previous sections, learning will be conceptualized in the form of knowledge, skills and competency acquisition. In a school setting, knowledge, skills and competencies are better captured by the grade attained in each subject. The general student learning can, therefore, be equally captured by the cumulative grade point aggregate. The authors purport that learning can be visualized, or in other words conceptualized, as a complex process that is determined by five main factors that include demographic characteristics; student initial condition; personal preferences and choices; and time factor curriculum and anticipated future career.