Open knowledge disclosure and technical standard competition in transition economies: A legitimacy perspective

Abstract

An increasing number of profit-oriented firms are disclosing their technological achievements free of charge, but existing literature has not studied the motivation of this behaviour in depth. Based on the data of Chinese ICT (information and communication technology) listed companies, this article studies the relationship between open knowledge disclosure and technical standard competition in transition economies from a legitimacy perspective. The empirical results show that open knowledge disclosure strategies can effectively enhance firms’ influence on technical standards, and their effect is significantly better than that of patent strategies. In addition, private firms, firms with a low social responsibility level, and firms with a large market share can better take advantage of this strategy.