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Meso-level factors in technological transitions: The development of TD-SCDMA in China

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  • Zhang, Marina Yue

Abstract

This paper uses an industry case study of technological transition from second-generation (2G) to third-generation (3G) networks in China to unfold how meso-level factors drove the development of TD-SCDMA, China's home-born 3G standard. In this purposive transitional process, under the coordination of a central authority, multiple ‘regime actors’ (government agencies) engaged in bargaining, negotiation and consensus building that determined the developmental directions and outcome of TD-SCDMA. TD-SCDMA proved to be a political success but an economic failure. The policy implications are profound. In particular, as the ‘silo regulatory model’ of policy making which focuses on a single industry is gradually replaced by a collective model involving interindustry players, issues about how to manage the collective model pose a serious challenge to policy makers in China and other emerging countries. The paper provides evidence for the importance of meso-level factors in the multi level perspective (MLP) framework of sociotechnical transitions.

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  • Zhang, Marina Yue, 2016. "Meso-level factors in technological transitions: The development of TD-SCDMA in China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 546-559.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:45:y:2016:i:2:p:546-559
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2015.11.006
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