Is the existence of a trade channel a sufficient cause for a successful technology transfer, or has this channel to be integrated by some specific feature of the receiving countries? Based on the work of Coe, Helpman and Hoffmaister (1997), where the effects induced by the stock of R&D in the industrialised countries on the total factor productivity of developing countries is estimated, we wonder if the potential of technology spillovers is strengthened by the specialisation in manufacturing. A preliminary empirical assessment, which uses exports in manufacturing as an indicator of specialisation, appears to confirm such a hypothesis.