Technology transfer to the U.S.S.R and the shape of the production function

In this paper we argue that previous studies of the impact of imports of Western capital to the Soviet Union have erred by emphasizing the direct contribution of such capital to output. To our view, a more important consequence of such imports is a catalytic effect on the productivity of indigenous capital and labor cooperating with Western machinery. Estimates of production functions for Soviet industry and several subsectors indicate that Western capital imports do improve the productivity of indigenous inputs and make the production process more capital intensive.