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This paper aims to provide a macro perspective on diffusion structure research, and to investigate the deep structure of international technology diffusion and structural differences between technology diffusion networks. This work also provides an understanding of the nature of globalization. Globalization has highlighted changes in socioeconomics and is reshaping the world. However, when comparing endogenous factors, exogenous factors are complex and demonstrate themselves as network phenomena. These network phenomena compose themselves as neither sole nor independent units. Countries in the global network act interdependently, and heavily influence one another.

This study utilizes social network analysis to investigate the structural configuration of international technology diffusion. This investigation uses a sample of 42 countries over the period from 1997 to 2008. The data set contains two categories: bilateral trade flow and aggregate R&D expenditure. Meanwhile, this study uses block model analysis to reveal a network structure, which can precisely illustrate a global network configuration.

The findings not only illustrate the pattern change of diffusion from a cascade-like to radial-like structure, but also present the structural configuration of technologically advanced countries and their competitive positions.

In the shift to a diffusive structure, time and space are represented in new ways. Therefore, radial-like diffusion structure can provide some technological development approaches for countries interested in exogenous effects for technological growth and managing their international relation.

This study is the first to use a multilateral perspective and longitudinal data to examine a cross-country network structure, to provide an understanding of the nature of globalization, its conceptualization and how influence and effects are transmitted through the interconnectedness of international technology diffusion.

Patent data have been exploited to track invention and international technology diffusion. We review evidence on research activity, international patenting, and income differences across countries. Guided by that evidence, we construct a model of ideas in the world economy that includes the decision of whether and where to patent them. The model makes precise connections between international patent statistics and cross-country differences in innovation, technology diffusion, market size, and strength of patent protection. We use it to organize our discussion of existing empirical studies, which typically focus on one of five core relationships: (i) national pools of knowledge and international spillovers from basic research; (ii) aggregate productivity and international technology diffusion from applied research; (iii) international patenting and the production of ideas, international diffusion, market sizes, and intellectual property regimes; (iv) the value of ideas and diffusion, market sizes, and the intellectual property regimes; or (v) investment in research and research productivity, the cost of research, and the value of ideas. While distinguishing between these five relationships proves useful, they are, of course, logically intertwined. Taking these interconnections into account will contribute to the goal of building a quantitative model of the creation, diffusion, and adoption of ideas in the global economy.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors of technology diffusion in Saudi Arabia. It is a relevant study for Saudi Arabia, which has embarked on high gears of economic modernization that is supposed to be driven by technology and knowledge. Thus, an up-to-date research on the factors of technology diffusion in the country is expected to be of high-valued contribution.

It employs co-integration method to analyse the long run relations between the technology diffusion and its determinants.

The study finds that the international trade, particularly the oil sector trade, of the Saudi Arabia appears to play no relevant role in the international technology transfer for Saudi Arabia. The study confirms that technology is an endogenous variable in the presence of human capital; and that the higher levels of educational attainments are found to significantly improve factor productivity. The foreign direct investment (FDI) stock is confirmed to be a consistent and important factor in the process of technology diffusion. The capital goods imports and the domestic R&D expenditure are found to be negatively associated with the technology diffusion.

The machine and transport equipment imports are used by the study as a measure of capital goods imports, and thus a better measure is needed in a further research. Similarly, the limited data on the domestic R&D expenditure has forced the author to rely on estimates and own calculations. Thus, these data limitations could not allow us to have better understanding of the impacts of capital goods imports and domestic R&D on the technology diffusion.

Human capital and FDIs are the key drivers the Saudi authorities should consider for transferring and diffusing technology in the country and expanding non-oil sources of economic growth.

This paper is a first of its kind for the case of Saudi Arabia to analyze the determinants of technology diffusion and investigate the role of the its oil sector trade in the technology diffusion. The oil sector trade is found insignificant in the international technology diffusion process; thus the authorities should refocus the oil sector trade towards technology localization and adoption to increase integrative by-product industries in the country.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of cross‐border diffusion of technology as a contributor to national economic performance at both aggregate and sectoral levels. Specifically, it aims to explore: the relationship between inflows of foreign technology and home country knowledge base; and the impact of international technology diffusion on indigenous productivity and international competitiveness.

Values of international trade in manufactured sectors as well as other data sources of economic and scientific performance are used to measure inflows of foreign technology, indigenous knowledge base, or international competitiveness at the aggregate and/or sectoral levels. This paper employs correlation and regression models for data analysis. Sectoral patterns are revealed based on various taxonomies for industrial systems.

At the aggregate level, it is found that there is a positive relationship between a nation's domestic knowledge base and inflows of foreign technology; and technology inflows, as well as home country knowledge base, significantly contribute to a nation's labor productivity (LP) and its international competitiveness. At the sectoral level, it is found that patterns of contribution from technology inflows to international competitiveness differ from industry to industry. There is a general trend of increase in the contributions from international technology inflows to a nation's international competitiveness over time and from lower to higher technology industries. However, for complex system technologies where tacit knowledge prevails, the diffusion of technology could be a significant challenge.

Empirical findings of this paper have significant public policy implications. National industrial policies should be sector‐specific to reflect the particular features of each industry. In the meantime, a proper balance must be kept between enhancing home country knowledge base and promoting inflows of foreign technology.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how national cultures contribute to explain the uneven diffusion of ISO 14001 across countries. The paper focuses on two of the cultural dimensions developed by the global leadership and organizational behavior effectiveness (GLOBE) project, namely, performance orientation and institutional collectivism.

A database containing information about the diffusion of ISO 14001 in 52 countries during the period 1999–2016 was built to carry out this research. The countries considered in this study represent about 90 percent of worldwide ISO 14001 certifications. The information was gathered from publicly available data sources: the ISO Survey, published every year by the International Organization for Standardization, the world development indicators of the World Bank, the cultural dimensions of the GLOBE project and the Index of Economic Freedom provided by The Heritage Foundation.

This research finds that both performance orientation and institutional collectivism influence the diffusion of ISO 14001. Whereas performance orientation slows down the diffusion of ISO 14001, institutional collectivism speeds it up. Additionally, this research shows that the slowing effect of performance orientation decreases in strength over time, while the accelerating effect of institutional collectivism becomes stronger.

The study adds to the understanding of the influence of national culture on the diffusion of environmental management standards, with an emphasis on ISO 14001. A key contribution of this research is that it explores how the influence of cultural dimensions change over time as a result of the development and maturation of ISO 14001.

The aim of this study is to compare the diffusion of certifications under two quality management systems (QMSs) in the tourism sector in Spain: the generic ISO 9001 international standard; and the Spanish industry‐specific “Q” standard.

The study pursues this objective by comparing the logistic curves of dissemination of certifications under the two standards using data obtained from official sources. This analysis is complemented with qualitative data from several case studies of Spanish hotels and restaurants.

The results show that the two standards are at different stages of diffusion: certification under the Spanish “Q” standard is increasing, while the ISO 9001 international standard seems to have reached saturation point, despite the fact that a lower number of certifications have been registered under ISO 9001 than under the “Q” standard.

The main contribution of this study is that it is one of the first to analyse the dissemination of quality standards in a specific sector. The findings are thus of considerable importance in extending knowledge of quality management in the tourism sector.

For international product managers, one critical question is how fast a new product is likely to be adopted and diffused in different nations. One possible way to answer this question is by collecting data on the diffusion in a large number of countries and analyzing them. However, one of the main problems associated with collecting data are the lack of sufficient early‐period sales data to ensure reliable estimations. The estimation process becomes even harder since word‐of‐mouth and imitation play significant roles in the adoption of a new product given that the spread of information in a social system is complex. The purpose of this paper is to assess the relationship among social interactions, cultural differences, and the adoption of new products, and propose a new technique to work with the complexity arising from social interactions, as well as the few data points.

A conceptual framework is presented and propositions are constructed.

The study suggests that, while social interactions are an important element for adoption of new products in every country, the strength of their impact on adoption varies across countries based on culture.

This study contributes by offering a deeper understanding of the impact of social interactions on international innovation adoption and provides a new foundation for the literature by combining individual heterogeneity, cultural differences, and word‐of‐mouth communication in one study.

Understanding the effect of cultural variations on the adoption of new products in a specific country will help management in the forecasting of demand by decreasing the perceived uncertainty of foreign cultural environments.

Even though diffusion models often describe innovation diffusion patterns over time fairly well, it is unclear how social interaction processes in different countries influence the adoption and diffusion speed of new products. There seems to be a large gap in the international marketing literature since it has long been accepted that personal interactions play a key role in product adoption and dissemination and that individuals communicate differently in the different parts of the world. An understanding of social interactions role on adoption of innovation will contribute to the international marketing field.

In an economic environment characterized in recent years by globalization and the integration of economic processes, standardization in management systems has had a high growth. In this context, there has been a remarkable increase in certain standards, or norms, issued by international organizations. Among these standards, two main groups stand out, both issued by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO): one for quality management systems – the family of ISO 9000 standards – and the other for environmental management systems – the ISO 14000 standards. This paper aims to analyze the world wide diffusion process of these two standards, using data provided by the ISO itself.

The methodology proposed is developed in four separate phases. The first two analyze the diffusion model over time with a model based on the logistic curve proposed by Franceschini et al. The next two phases analyze whether the diffusion process has proceeded in a relatively homogeneous way in the different sectors of activity. In order to do that, the use of indices of concentration and instability has been carried out.

The conclusion is that the diffusion of both standards is very similar – in general and in terms of the different sectors. This result coincides with certain hypotheses formulated in the theoretical literature.

This is the first paper where it can be demonstrated that, world‐wide, both the ISO 14000 and the ISO 9000 standards have followed very similar patterns of diffusion in their expansion.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.