IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/teinso/v33y2011i1p23-35.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Betting on indigenous innovation or relying on FDI: The Chinese strategy for catching-up

Author

Listed:
  • Tang, Mingfeng
  • Hussler, Caroline

Abstract

This paper characterizes the national innovation system (NIS) built up in China and analyses whether this NIS is helpful for China to catch up. Our research methodology is based on the combination of the theoretical contributions of the new growth theory and the NIS approaches, but also benefits from empirical evidence collected during an OECD research project targeted at the study of the Chinese NIS. We find that the Chinese NIS is composed of two complementary building blocks: an FDI-based innovation system and an indigenous innovation system. If both systems are shown to have a positive influence on China’s catching-up process, the indigenous innovation system however does not seem as influential as the FDI-based one. We suggest that the Chinese NIS should be reconsidered and designed in such a way to be able to improve the absorption and innovation capability of domestic firms and to strengthen university–enterprise interactions.

Suggested Citation

  • Tang, Mingfeng & Hussler, Caroline, 2011. "Betting on indigenous innovation or relying on FDI: The Chinese strategy for catching-up," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 23-35.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:teinso:v:33:y:2011:i:1:p:23-35
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2011.03.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160791X11000029
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.techsoc.2011.03.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Romer, Paul M, 1986. "Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(5), pages 1002-1037, October.
    2. Shulin Gu & Bengt-Åke Lundvall, 2006. "China's Innovation System and the Move Toward Harmonious Growth and Endogenous Innovation," DRUID Working Papers 06-07, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    3. Can Huang & Celeste Amorim & Joaquim Borges Gouveia & Mark Spinoglio & Augusto Medina, 2004. "Organization, Program and Structure: An Analysis of the Chinese Innovation Policy Framework," Working Papers de Economia (Economics Working Papers) 17, Departamento de Economia, Gestão e Engenharia Industrial, Universidade de Aveiro.
    4. Hu, Mei-Chih & Mathews, John A., 2005. "National innovative capacity in East Asia," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 1322-1349, November.
    5. Shi, Yizheng, 2001. "Technological capabilities and international production strategy of firms: the case of foreign direct investment in China," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 184-204, July.
    6. Xiwei, Zhong & Xiangdong, Yang, 2007. "Science and technology policy reform and its impact on China's national innovation system," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 317-325.
    7. Ran, Jimmy & Voon, Jan P. & Li, Guangzhong, 2007. "How does FDI affect China? Evidence from industries and provinces," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 774-799, December.
    8. Fagerberg, Jan & Srholec, Martin, 2008. "National innovation systems, capabilities and economic development," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1417-1435, October.
    9. Liu, Xielin & White, Steven, 2001. "Comparing innovation systems: a framework and application to China's transitional context," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 1091-1114, August.
    10. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July.
    11. Lynn Mytelka, 2000. "Local Systems Of Innovation In A Globalized World Economy," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 15-32.
    12. Carlsson, Bo & Jacobsson, Staffan & Holmen, Magnus & Rickne, Annika, 2002. "Innovation systems: analytical and methodological issues," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 233-245, February.
    13. Metcalfe, Stan & Ramlogan, Ronnie, 2008. "Innovation systems and the competitive process in developing economies," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 433-446, May.
    14. Mr. Harm Zebregs & Ms. Wanda S Tseng, 2002. "Foreign Direct Investment in China: Some Lessons for Other Countries," IMF Policy Discussion Papers 2002/003, International Monetary Fund.
    15. Romer, Paul M, 1987. "Growth Based on Increasing Returns Due to Specialization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(2), pages 56-62, May.
    16. Nelson, Richard R, 1986. "Institutions Supporting Technical Advance in Industry," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 186-189, May.
    17. Zhou, Ping & Leydesdorff, Loet, 2006. "The emergence of China as a leading nation in science," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 83-104, February.
    18. Kim,Linsu & Nelson,Richard R. (ed.), 2000. "Technology, Learning, and Innovation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521770033, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. V. A. Yasinskii & M. Yu. Kozhevnikov, 2023. "The Struggle for Technological Sovereignty: China’s Experience and Lessons for Russia," Studies on Russian Economic Development, Springer, vol. 34(5), pages 704-712, October.
    2. Shahid Yusuf, 2012. "From Technological Catch-up to Innovation : The Future of China’s GDP Growth," World Bank Publications - Reports 12781, The World Bank Group.
    3. Willoughby, Kelvin W. & Mullina, Nadezhda, 2021. "Reverse innovation, international patenting and economic inertia: Constraints to appropriating the benefits of technological innovation," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    4. Yu, Xiubao & Yan, Jie & Assimakopoulos, Dimitris, 2015. "Case analysis of imitative innovation in Chinese manufacturing SMEs: Products, features, barriers and competences for transition," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 520-525.
    5. Yu Huan & Md. Qamruzzaman, 2022. "Innovation-Led FDI Sustainability: Clarifying the Nexus between Financial Innovation, Technological Innovation, Environmental Innovation, and FDI in the BRIC Nations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-26, November.
    6. Jiang, Marshall S. & Branzei, Oana & Xia, Jun, 2016. "DIY: How internationalization shifts the locus of indigenous innovation for Chinese firms," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(5), pages 662-674.
    7. Zeng Gang & Zhang Yi & Cao Xianzhong, 2023. "Cross-Border knowledge pipelines and innovation performance of chinese firms: evidence from Zhangjiang in Shanghai," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 67(1), pages 33-46, May.
    8. Mohd. Fayaz & Sandeep Kaur Bhatia, 2018. "Technological Intensity of Indian Exports and the Performance of Emerging Asian Economies," Emerging Economy Studies, International Management Institute, vol. 4(1), pages 62-77, May.
    9. Majidpour, Mehdi & Saber, Ali & Elahi, Shaban & Shayan, Ali & Sahebkar Khorasani, Seyed Mohammad, 2021. "Technological catch-up in the biopharmaceutical sector: Evidence from Iran," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    10. Cao, Qing, 2014. "Insight into weak enforcement of intellectual property rights in China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 40-47.
    11. Naudé, Wim & Szirmai, Adam & Haraguchi, Nobuya, 2016. "Structural transformation in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS)," MERIT Working Papers 2016-016, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    12. Rahul Panat, 2014. "On the data and analysis of the research output of India and China: India has significantly fallen behind China," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 100(2), pages 471-481, August.
    13. Moralles, Herick Fernando & Moreno, Rosina, 2020. "FDI productivity spillovers and absorptive capacity in Brazilian firms: A threshold regression analysis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 257-272.
    14. Farid Shirazi & Nick Hajli, 2021. "IT-Enabled Sustainable Innovation and the Global Digital Divides," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-24, August.
    15. H.J. Roelfsema & Y. Zhang, 2012. "Globalization and Regional Innovation," Working Papers 12-15, Utrecht School of Economics.
    16. Egor Leonidovich Domnich, 2012. "The Scientific and Technological Reserve of the Far Eastern Federal District and the Northeast Asia Countries," Spatial Economics=Prostranstvennaya Ekonomika, Economic Research Institute, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (Khabarovsk, Russia), issue 3, pages 79-110.
    17. Wim Naudé & Adam Szirmai, 2013. "Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Development," Working Papers 2013/17, Maastricht School of Management.
    18. Jan Fransen & Peter Knorringa, 2019. "Learning and Upgrading of Craft Exporters at the Interface of Global Value Chains and Innovation Systems," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 31(3), pages 530-557, July.
    19. Chan-Yuan Wong & Xiao-Shan Yap, 2012. "Mapping technological innovations through patent analysis: a case study of foreign multinationals and indigenous firms in China," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 91(3), pages 773-787, June.
    20. Sebastian Losacker & Ingo Liefner, 2020. "Implications of China's innovation policy shift: Does “indigenous” mean closed?," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 1124-1141, September.
    21. Jolanda Hessels & Wim Naudé, 2019. "The Intersection Of The Fields Of Entrepreneurship And Development Economics: A Review Towards A New View," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 389-403, April.
    22. Fakhimi, MohammadAmin & Miremadi, Iman, 2022. "The impact of technological and social capabilities on innovation performance: a technological catch-up perspective," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Swati Mehta, 2018. "National Innovation System of India: An Empirical Analysis," Millennial Asia, , vol. 9(2), pages 203-224, August.
    2. Fagerberg, Jan & Srholec, Martin & Verspagen, Bart, 2010. "Innovation and Economic Development," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 833-872, Elsevier.
    3. Proksch, Dorian & Haberstroh, Marcus Max & Pinkwart, Andreas, 2017. "Increasing the national innovative capacity: Identifying the pathways to success using a comparative method," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 256-270.
    4. Candelaria Barrios & Esther Flores & M. Ángeles Martínez & Marta Ruiz-Martínez, 2023. "Are the Major Knowledge-producing Countries Converging in Science and Technology Capabilities?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 14(4), pages 4534-4560, December.
    5. Li, Xibao, 2009. "China's regional innovation capacity in transition: An empirical approach," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 338-357, March.
    6. Kumar, Sanjesh & Singh, Baljeet, 2019. "Barriers to the international diffusion of technological innovations," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 74-86.
    7. Marie-Ange Véganzonès-Varoudakis & Arup Mitra & Chandan Sharma, 2012. "Are Reforms Productive? Explaining Productivity and Efficiency in the Indian Manufacturing," Post-Print hal-03058727, HAL.
    8. Saima Javed & Yu Rong & Hafiz Muhammad Ihsan Zafeer & Samra Maqbool & Babar Nawaz Abbasi, 2024. "Unleashing the potential: a quest to understand and examine the factors enriching research and innovation productivities of South Asian universities," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    9. ?gel de la Fuente, "undated". "Convergence Across Countries And Regions: Theory And Empirics," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 447.00, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    10. Ismail Senturk & Fiaz Ahmad Sulehri & Syeda Mehak Ali, 2022. "Financial Development and Innovation Led-Growth: A Case of Selected Developing Countries," Journal of Policy Research (JPR), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 8(3), pages 81-97, September.
    11. Tran, Nguyen Van & Alauddin, Mohammad & Tran, Quyet Van, 2019. "Labour quality and benefits reaped from global economic integration: An application of dynamic panel SGMM estimators," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 92-106.
    12. Capolupo, Rosa, 2009. "The New Growth Theories and Their Empirics after Twenty Years," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 3, pages 1-72.
    13. Chris Belmert Milindi & Roula Inglesi-Lotz, 2023. "Impact of technological progress on carbon emissions in different country income groups," Energy & Environment, , vol. 34(5), pages 1348-1382, August.
    14. Le Van, Cuong & Luong, Thai Bao & Nguyen, Manh-Hung & Nguyen, Tu-Anh, 2010. "New Technology, Human Capital and Growth for a Developing Country," LERNA Working Papers 10.22.328, LERNA, University of Toulouse.
    15. Rosa Capolupo, 2005. "THE NEW GROWTH THEORIES AND THEIR EMPIRICS, Discussion Paper in Economics, University of Glasgow, N. 2005-04 (http://www.gla.ac.uk/Acad/Economics," GE, Growth, Math methods 0506003, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Klaus Waelde, 1994. "Trade pattern reversal: The role of technological change, factor accumulation and government intervention," International Trade 9403003, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 06 Apr 1994.
    17. Alberto Gude & Inmaculada Álvarez & Luis Orea, 2018. "Heterogeneous spillovers among Spanish provinces: a generalized spatial stochastic frontier model," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 155-173, December.
    18. Matthias Firgo & Peter Mayerhofer, 2015. "Wissensintensive Unternehmensdienste, Wissens-Spillovers und regionales Wachstum. Teilprojekt 1: Wissens-Spillovers und regionale Entwicklung – Welche strukturpolitische Ausrichtung optimiert das Wach," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 58342.
    19. Frédéric Lordon, 1991. "Théorie de la croissance : quelques développements récents [Deuxième partie : la redécouverte des rendements croissants]," Revue de l'OFCE, Programme National Persée, vol. 37(1), pages 191-243.
    20. Moralles, Herick Fernando & do Nascimento Rebelatto, Daisy Aparecida, 2016. "The effects and time lags of R&D spillovers in Brazil," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 148-155.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:teinso:v:33:y:2011:i:1:p:23-35. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/technology-in-society .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.