Business travel, institutions, and economic complexity
利用113个国家1995-2020年的面板数据，研究发现商务旅行通过促进隐性知识转移提升经济复杂性，但这一效应依赖于包容性政治制度，且存在边际收益递减。
Abstract While international knowledge transfer drives structural transformation, the diffusion of tacit knowledge—the complex skills and procedures essential for sophisticated production—remains constrained by the need for face-to-face interaction. This paper identifies outbound business travel as a distinct channel for overcoming this friction. Exploiting a panel of 113 countries (1995–2020) and a System GMM framework to address endogeneity, I document a robust positive association between business travel and economic complexity. I show that this relationship is conditional on domestic political institutions: the returns to travel are amplified in inclusive, open political environments but vanish in highly centralized systems. Furthermore, I find evidence of diminishing marginal returns, suggesting that the benefits of travel moderate as connectivity channels saturate. I conclude that inclusive institutions function as a critical “absorptive filter” mechanism, enabling the tacit knowledge acquired abroad to translate effectively into national productive capabilities.