Effect of Linguistic Heterogeneity on Technology Transfer: An Economic Study of FIFA Football Rankings

This paper used the Fédération International de Football Association (FIFA) world ranking points data to examine how linguistic heterogeneity has an impact on technology transfer from the most developed countries. The major findings are: (1) the learning effect from the most developed countries on team performance is larger for developing countries than for developed countries. (2) Linguistic heterogeneity has a detrimental effect on technology transfer for the developed countries but not for the developing countries. The results presented here are interpreted as implying that the importance of common and proper comprehension of team strategy among members, which is hampered by linguistic heterogeneity, in improving team performance, depends upon the development stage. Running title: Heterogeneity on Technology Transfer