Catching-up Context Research Articles

Government-Controlled Enterprises in Standardization in the Catching-Up Context: Case of TD-SCDMA in China

In this article we analyze the case of TD-SCDMA system standardization in China. Specifically, we focus on the leading role that government-controlled enterprises (GCEs) played in the standardization, and how the Chinese government supported GCEs. The case study findings advance current knowledge on how governments support standardization efforts in a catching-up context. We found that, under strong government support and with GCEs' leadership, a latecomer country such as China, with certain technological capabilities and in economic, social, and institutional contexts that favor indigenous innovation, can pursue path-breaking innovation with complex technological systems. Governments should engage in various tactics to support GCEs that lead the standardization process. Most importantly, governments should intervene in scoping decisions on technological systems and research and development forces in the standard development stage, and offer moral suasion in the standard diffusion stage. We provide practical implications for governments that support GCEs in technology catching-up.

Alignment in regional networks: towards new metrics to assess the effectiveness of technology policy|Alinhamento de redes em uma região em processo de catching-up: em busca de novas métricas para avaliar a efetividade da política tecnológica

This article addresses how regional level network governance and structure influence the effectiveness of technology policy to improve local firms’ innovativeness in a catching-up context. It examines network alignment through an investigation of network governance (i.e., coordination) and structure. Our contribution to the literature relates to the employment of original metrics that allow the understanding of meaning, features and roles of network ties and, therefore, whether network governance and structure have a consistent influence on firms’ engagement in network and their innovative performance. The empirical evidence is based on a Brazilian laggard region that has been the focus of technology policy to promote industrial and regional development, the Recife software network of innovation (Porto Digital). We find that implementation of a technology policy and formation of networks to improve firm-level innovation and regional catch-up should involve careful consideration of the intended effects: membership of a network may not be a sufficient condition for improving innovation at firm level.

How China’s manufacturers achieve technological catch-up

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how China’s manufacturers catch up with the forerunners through R&D cooperation by developing a new mode of latecomer–forerunner R&D cooperation, i.e. the periphery–core mode, which provides a viable way for China’s manufacturers to obtain forerunners’ core knowledge from their periphery knowledge via knowledge spillover and knowledge transfer.Design/methodology/approachThe paper first reviews the literature on R&D cooperation process in the catching-up context and knowledge management in R&D cooperation. Then, three cases of R&D cooperation between China’s advanced technology manufacturers and their forerunners are introduced, with emphasis on interactivities in R&D cooperation and knowledge spillover. On the basis of the multi-case study, the periphery–core mode of R&D cooperation between latecomers and forerunners is conducted.FindingsThe paper finds that the latecomers can catch up with their forerunners by acquiring forerunners’ core technology used in periphery R&D activities. Through formal and informal interactions, the forerunners’ core technology can be extracted and transferred to latecomers, which the latecomers can then absorb and further develop. Thus, it can be concluded that the periphery–core mode of R&D cooperation is a viable way for the latecomers to get access to forerunners’ core technology.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the literature on the catching-up theory by developing the periphery–core mode as a new mode for the latecomers to catch up with the forerunners. It expands the understanding of the latecomer–forerunner R&D cooperation by focusing on the way that China’s manufacturers as latecomers catch up with the forerunners by accessing the forerunners’ core knowledge from their R&D cooperation in periphery knowledge. The paper shows the mechanism of knowledge transfer and spillover in R&D cooperation. The role of communications, especially informal communication between cooperation partners, is emphasized in this process. This study also provides a new perspective for cooperation partner selection by arguing that latecomers can choose their cooperation partners according to the periphery and core knowledge they possess, other than the relationship between them. Besides, this paper emphasizes the mutual support between knowledge transfer, knowledge spillover and knowledge absorption, which is necessary for latecomers to achieve successful catching up in periphery–core R&D cooperation.

Government in the catching-up of technology innovation: Case of administrative intervention in China

This paper advances the extant knowledge of the mechanism of government intervention in technology innovation, especially that in the catching-up context. It forms a three-layer theoretical framework and further uses it to analyze a case of the standardization of TD-SCDMA, a third generation (3G) of mobile system, in China. The findings validate the argument that in technology development and technology diffusion stages, there are different innovation task foci and different challenges, which require the government taking a mix of regulative, financial and administrative instruments to intervene. The government needs to draw upon the institutional environment, R&D and industrialization capability and the technology characteristics of the innovation in identifying the innovation tasks and challenges, and determining the intervention strategy. In the catching-up context, when pursuing the indigenous innovation in complex technology, "hard" government intervention is necessary. Especially the government should take advantage of its control of national economy and the industry to explore the potential of intervention using diverse administrative instruments, for example the leading role of state organizations in innovation should be considered.

Government in standardization in the catching-up context: Case of China's mobile system

This paper categorizes the multiple-faced roles of the government in technology standardization in the catching-up contexts. It presents a case that China has developed a third generation (3G) of mobile system, TD-SCDMA, and deployed it in the Chinese market. The authors attribute the success of this national standardization initiative to that the government is able to balance the interests of different stakeholders of mobile technology and market, and enroll them into the process of TD-SCDMA development and industrialization. The TD-SCDMA case demonstrates that the government in the standardization process can act as a project founder, risk undertaker, interest moderator, collaboration facilitator, and process monitor. Practical implications for developing countries in pursuing their indigenous innovation strategy are given.

Competing with dominant global standards in a catching-up context. The case of mobile standards in China

The process of diffusion of standards and competition between standards is susceptible to initial conditions and is path dependent. In this paper, the authors are interested in investigating to which extent economic actions and public policy initiatives can modify the outcome of a path-dependent process of competition between standards. They also aim to identify the factors that affect the success of such initiatives. To this end they analyse competition between mobile standards in China across two generations (2G and 3G), with the help of essential notions of economics of standards. Different policy initiatives have been taken to stimulate the domestic innovation and to relieve the burden of foreign IPRs, culminating with the introduction of a 3G domestic standard, TD-SCDMA, to compete with the established global standards. Despite the size of the Chinese market and the strong hold of the government on the telecommunications industry, it is found that the available market data indicate that these path-breaking initiatives have not been successful from a commercial point of view. From the case study, the authors analyse the reasons for the unsatisfactory market results and outline the main lessons to be drawn. They also investigate to which extent the Chinese initiatives have contributed to other objectives related to catching-up. It is suggested that they have provided opportunities of learning to innovate and develop valuable capabilities. Building on the lessons drawn from this case, the authors discuss three standard policy and strategy options for catching-up countries: simple participation in global consortiums on agreed global standards, indigenous architectural innovation, and indigenous modular innovation.

Should “open innovation” change innovation policy thinking in catching-up economies? Considerations for policy analyses

This paper provides a review of the current state of academic and policy-level debates on “open innovation” by elaborating on the relevance of the concept of open innovation for innovation policy-making in catching-up economies. The paper shows that paradoxes and contradictions exist between the “mainstream” innovation discourse and the development challenges of the catching-up countries that have lead to “de-contextualization” of the innovation policy discourse. The paper argues that applying the concept of open innovation in its ideal-type form to the catching-up context is likely to reinforce these de-contextualization tendencies. This problem can be remedied by more conscious attention to the basic contradictions and paradoxes, which requires a more comprehensive and systemic analytical focus on innovation and technological development at the levels of firm, industry and policy.

Coordination of innovation policies in the catching-up context: a historical perspective on Estonia and Brazil

This paper highlights some of the crucial weaknesses of innovation- policy-research that limit the relevance of this research for policy-making practices in catching-up countries. The paper proposes a framework that takes a multi-level and dynamic approach towards studying innovation-policy-making processes. This framework is applied herein to examine the evolution of innovation policy and governance trajectories of Estonia and Brazil and how this has affected the capacities for technological accumulation and development. The paper argues that crucial aspects of these contextual trajectories are being overlooked by standard innovation policy and governance analyses. In terms of policy implications, the paper concludes that the increasing influence of external pressures on innovation policy trajectories of catching-up countries is only reinforcing the use of narrow analytical perspectives and threatens to further de-contextualise innovation-policy-making in these countries. The spread of 'participatory' or 'networked' innovation policy models is presented as an example of these tendencies. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Karo, E. and Kattel, R. (2010) 'Coordination of innovation policies in the catching-up context: a historical perspective on Estonia and Brazil', Int. J. Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp.293-329.

Linking the technological regime to the technological catch-up: analyzing Korea and Taiwan using the US patent data

This article examines the relationship between the technological regime and the technological catch-up, using US patent data. This study first extends the notion of technological regimes as more appropriate for the catching-up context before it goes on to develop the quantitative expressions of technological regime variables. Then, it investigates in which technological classes technological catch-up tends either to occur or not to occur and what affects the speed of the catch-up. This study has found that catching-up is more likely to happen in those technological classes with shorter technological cycle time and more initial stock of knowledge and that among those candidate classes the actual speed of catch-up varies depending on appropriability and knowledge accessibility. This implies that the factors that determine the occurrence of catch-up and the speed of catch-up are different. Comparing the level of technological capability of the advanced and catching-up economies, the article has found that catching-up countries tend to achieve high levels in the technological sectors with shorter cycle time, easier access to knowledge, and higher appropriability, whereas the advanced countries show the exactly opposite performances. The study also confirms the organizational selection hypothesis such that the firms of different organizations and strategies show divergent degrees of fitness in the different environment or technological regime. We find that the Korean firms find themselves more fitted to technological regimes featured by low appropriability and high cumulativeness (persistence), whereas the Taiwanese firms are more fitted to technological regimes featured by high appropriability and low cumulativeness (persistence). Our findings are consistent with the following characterization of the firms in Korea and Taiwan. The Korean firms, dominated by the so-called Chaebols especially in patent registrations, are characterized as less flexible, large diversified conglomerates and pursing more independent R&D and learning strategies. The Taiwanese firms are characterized as more flexible, network-based, specialized firms and pursuing more cooperative R&D and learning strategies. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.