How to reach new technological specialisation: The role of related technological capabilities and complementary technological linkages

Abstract

Technological specialisation is critical for regional development. One region can specialise in new technologies at a lower cost and faster speed by relating to specialised local technologies. Therefore, combined with the theory of path branching, we propose the research hypotheses that related technological capabilities and complementary technological linkages play important roles in the new technological specialisation. Moreover, we perform empirical analysis and test our hypotheses using patent text data on listed firms in China from 2000 to 2020. The results show that the impact of related technological capabilities on new technological specialisation is significantly positive. There is an optimal number of interregional technological linkages that promote new technological specialisation. Too many or too few are detrimental to the specialisation of new technologies. These results remain robust. Further investigation reveals that related technological capabilities and complementary technological linkages can work together to push for new technological specialisation throughout the sample period. However, this is weak in the short term or even insignificant in the central and western regions of China. These findings provide new insights and policy implications for emerging markets regarding reaching new technological specialisation by strengthening regional technological capabilities and collaboration.