Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
10482717 | Research Policy | 2005 | 25 Pages |
Abstract
This paper examines the growth of technological capability in the telecommunication industry in China. We apply a modified version of Lee and Lim's [Lee, K., Lim, C., 2001. The technological regimes, catch-up and leapfrogging: findings from the Korean industries. Research Policy, vol. 30.] model of technological learning and catching-up. Using the three cases of the Shanghai Bell, the CIT-led R&D consortium, and indigenous companies such as Huawei, we analyze how the catching-up in the telecommunication industry occurred. We find that the important factors in the catch-up are the strategy of “trading market for technology,” the knowledge diffusion from Shanghai Bell both to the R&D consortium and to Huawei, and industrial promotion by the government. As a condition for successful catch-up, the paper points out that the technological regime of the telephone switches is featured by a more predictable technological trajectory and a lower cumulativeness. These conditions and strategies helped the Chinese firms to achieve a stage-skipping catch-up, namely, by skipping the stage of analogue electronic switches to jump to digital electronic switches.
Related Topics
Social Sciences and Humanities
Business, Management and Accounting
Business and International Management
Authors
Qing Mu, Keun Lee,