Patterns of specialization toward a knowledge-intensive economy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351019743-5 , Read it for free at Google Books via this link.
Chapter published in the book: China’s Quest for Innovation: Institutions and Ecosystems. Edited By: Shuanping Dai, Markus Taube. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, January 2020, pp. 90 – 105. ISBN: 9781351019743. Research article co-authored by Dr. Mahmood H. Shubbak and Prof. Iciar Dominguez Lacasa.
Technological development and innovation have long been a center of intensive research in economic and business studies (Fagerberg, et al., 2010). There is an increasing unanimity in the literature on the role that technological development can play as the key factor for both economic growth and business competitiveness (Schumpeter, 1934; Pavitt, 1963; Freeman, 2004; Andries & Faems, 2013; Shubbak, 2018). Accordingly, growing empirical evidence highlights the vital role of accumulating domestic technological capabilities for developing economies in order to be able to absorb, adopt and further develop advanced technologies (Mowery & Nelson, 2001; Malerba & Nelson, 2011; Shubbak, 2019). Successful catching-up processes in latecomer economies are usually accompanied by deep learning, knowledge accumulation and technical change procedures (Lall, 1992; Ernst & Kim, 2002).
In this analysis, we consider the technological capability of a country as its ability to employ scientific and technical knowledge into cognitive and practical competences for absorbing, using and developing new technologies. On this basis, countries can differ in the development of their technological capabilities due to various indigenous and exogenous factors. Technology upgrading can thus be seen as a multi-dimensional structural change process: technologically, industrially and organisationally (Dominguez Lacasa, et al., 2019; Radosevic & Yoruk, 2016).
In this chapter, we study the evolution of technological capabilities in China since 1980 using patent indicators. The main aim is to deepen our knowledge about the process of technological catching up taking place in China and to identify the interrelated processes of structural change therein towards a knowledge intensive economy in the period 1983-2012.
Abstract
This chapter discusses the evolution of technological capabilities in China since 1980 using patent indicators. It explains the research methodology, data, and indicators used throughout the empirical analysis. The chapter considers the development trends of Chinese technological capabilities with relevance to selected developed and emerging economies and explores the technological specialization and dynamism indicators. The Technological Dynamics Indicator captures the global shifts of technological specialization between the initial and final periods under consideration. In comparison with other emerging economies under consideration, the analysis reveals that China has accumulated the largest stock of technological capabilities over the past two decades. A similar profile with slight differences at the level of technological fields can be observed for China. The analysis of the technological capabilities of China using patent data suggests that, compared with other emerging economies, China has been able to accumulate a considerable stock of technological capabilities over the past decades.
Book Information
| Edition | 1st Edition |
| First Published | 2019 |
| eBook Published | 6 November 2019 |
| Pub. location | London |
| Imprint | Routledge |
| Pages | 304 pages |
| eBook ISBN | 9781351019743 |
| Subjects | Economics, Finance, Business & Industry, Development Studies |