大量的文献已经发现了这种技术转让效应存在的证据。这一领域的基础研究——例如Javorcik(2004)或Keller和Yeaple(2009)的研究——表明，外商直接投资在东道国公司产生了广泛的知识溢出，因为跨国投资者将其技术和方法转让给了它们在国外的附属公司。这些影响直接或间接地扩散到本土公司，这些公司随着外商投资的增加，往往表现出较高的生产力水平，或从事更多的知识创造工作。

For foreign investors, the benefits availedby joint ventures are clear. A domestic partner can help the foreign investor navigate the regulatory and cultural complexities that arise from entering anew market. To ensure the success of their foreign operations, multinational enterprises seek out partners with large market shares that possess awell-developed capacity for innovation or partners that are alreadywell-established in international markets. On the other hand, the threat of a Chinese joint venture partner appropriating intellectual property is a real onefor foreign investors; however, the reality is that such costs seem to be outweighed by the benefits to multinational firms who establish Chinese operations.

对于外国投资者来说，合资企业的好处是显而易见的。本土合作伙伴可以帮助外国投资者应对进入新市场所带来的监管和文化上的复杂关系。跨国企业为确保其海外经营的成功，往往会寻找市场份额大、创新能力强的合作伙伴，或者在国际市场上已有一定地位的合作伙伴。另一方面，对于外国投资者来说，中国合资伙伴盗用知识产权的威胁也是不可否认的。然而，现实情况是，这些成本似乎被在华设立业务的跨国公司所获得的好处所抵消。