The coupling relationship between standard development and technology advancement: A game theoretical perspective

Technology advancement has profound implications to almost every aspect of human life and society progress. It leads to better quality of life and a higher level of human intelligence. Accelerating technology advancement is of interest to all societies. It is an even more critical issue in emerging economies because technology application is generally lagging behind there than established economies. The literature has indicated that technology advancement is deeply coupled with standard development. However, this coupling relationship has not been sufficiently elaborated. In this paper, we draw upon the literature to clearly define the concepts of technology advancement and standard development, and how contexts affect the inter-relationship between the two. Adopting a game theoretical perspective, we analyzed the coupling relationship between the two in four different scenarios. Our findings potentially contribute to a more in-depth understanding, and practically, can offer guidance to policy makers.