IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/telpol/v36y2012i10p817-831.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Reprint of: Catching up through the development of technology standard: The case of TD-SCDMA in China

Author

Listed:
  • Gao, Xudong
  • Liu, Jianxin

Abstract

This paper explored the key factors affecting catching up through technology standard development by studying the evolution of TD-SCDMA, one of the three international standards of 3G mobile communications, in China. It was found that this was a complex co-evolution process between firm strategy and government policy aimed mainly at solving the challenges of late-comer disadvantages. The paper also examined the unique features of this co-evolution process, including the importance of the informal social network of non-customer stakeholders, and discussed the theoretical and practical implications of the key findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Gao, Xudong & Liu, Jianxin, 2012. "Reprint of: Catching up through the development of technology standard: The case of TD-SCDMA in China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 817-831.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:36:y:2012:i:10:p:817-831
    DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2012.10.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308596112001796
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.telpol.2012.10.001?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. Fu, Hanlong & Mou, Yi, 2010. "An assessment of the 2008 telecommunications restructuring in China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(10), pages 649-658, November.
    2. Lee, Keun & Lim, Chaisung, 2001. "Technological regimes, catching-up and leapfrogging: findings from the Korean industries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 459-483, March.
    3. Raghu Garud & Michael A. Rappa, 1994. "A Socio-Cognitive Model of Technology Evolution: The Case of Cochlear Implants," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 5(3), pages 344-362, August.
    4. Michael Hobday, 1995. "Innovation In East Asia," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 226.
    5. Choung, Jae-Yong & Hameed, Tahir & Ji, Illyong, 2011. "Role of formal standards in transition to the technology frontier: Korean ICT systems," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 269-287, April.
    6. West, Joel & Mace, Michael, 0. "Browsing as the killer app: Explaining the rapid success of Apple's iPhone," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5-6), pages 270-286, June.
    7. Clark, Kim B., 1985. "The interaction of design hierarchies and market concepts in technological evolution," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 235-251, October.
    8. Ono, Shigeru & Tang, Puay, 2010. "The role of mobile handsets in advanced network service evolution: Evidence from Japan," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 444-460, September.
    9. Kshetri, Nir & Palvia, Prashant & Dai, Hua, 2011. "Chinese institutions and standardization: The case of government support to domestic third generation cellular standard," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 399-412, June.
    10. Blind, Knut & Gauch, Stephan & Hawkins, Richard, 2010. "How stakeholders view the impacts of international ICT standards," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 162-174, April.
    11. Funk, Jeffrey L. & Methe, David T., 2001. "Market- and committee-based mechanisms in the creation and diffusion of global industry standards: the case of mobile communication," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 589-610, April.
    12. Giovanni Dosi & Christopher Freeman & Richard Nelson & Gerarld Silverberg & Luc Soete (ed.), 1988. "Technical Change and Economic Theory," LEM Book Series, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy, number dosietal-1988, November.
    13. Dong-Sung Cho & Dong-Jae Kim & Dong Kee Rhee, 1998. "Latecomer Strategies: Evidence from the Semiconductor Industry in Japan and Korea," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(4), pages 489-505, August.
    14. Sanjaya Lall, 1982. "Developing Countries as Exporters of Technology," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-05435-0, March.
    15. Alice H. Amsden & Wan-wen Chu, 2003. "Beyond Late Development: Taiwan's Upgrading Policies," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262011980, April.
    16. Weber, Arnd & Haas, Michael & Scuka, Daniel, 2011. "Mobile service innovation: A European failure," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 469-480, June.
    17. 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.
    18. Christensen, Clayton M. & Rosenbloom, Richard S., 1995. "Explaining the attacker's advantage: Technological paradigms, organizational dynamics, and the value network," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 233-257, March.
    19. Funk, Jefrey L, 1998. "Competition between regional standards and the success and failure of firms in the world-wide mobile communication market," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(4-5), pages 419-441, May.
    20. Suzana Rodrigues & John Child, 2003. "Co‐evolution in an Institutionalized Environment," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(8), pages 2137-2162, December.
    21. Jho, Whasun, 2007. "Global political economy of technology standardization: A case of the Korean mobile telecommunications market," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 124-138, March.
    22. Zhang, Jing & Liang, Xiong-Jian, 2011. "Business ecosystem strategies of mobile network operators in the 3G era: The case of China Mobile," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 156-171, March.
    23. Steen, Håkon Ursin, 2011. "Indicators of development or dependency in disguise? Assessing domestic inventive capacity in South Korean and Chinese infrastructural ICT standards," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 663-680, August.
    24. Jeffrey L. Funk, 1998. "The Competition between Regional Standards and the Success and Failure of Firms in the World-Wide Mobile Communication Market," Kobe Economic & Business Review, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University, vol. 42, pages 137-161, February.
    25. Jay B. Barney, 1986. "Strategic Factor Markets: Expectations, Luck, and Business Strategy," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(10), pages 1231-1241, October.
    26. Neil Gandal, 2002. "Compatibility, Standardization, and Network Effects: Some Policy Implications," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 18(1), pages 80-91, Spring.
    27. Fuentelsaz, Lucio & Maícas, Juan Pablo & Polo, Yolanda, 2008. "The evolution of mobile communications in Europe: The transition from the second to the third generation," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 436-449, July.
    28. Rebecca Henderson, 1993. "Underinvestment and Incompetence as Responses to Radical Innovation: Evidence from the Photolithographic Alignment Equipment Industry," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 24(2), pages 248-270, Summer.
    29. Xia, Jun, 2011. "The third-generation-mobile (3G) policy and deployment in China: Current status, challenges, and prospects," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 51-63, February.
    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. Yu, Jiang & Zhang, Yue & Gao, Ping, 2012. "Examining China's technology policies for wireless broadband infrastructure," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 847-857.
    2. Zhang, Jing & Liang, Xiong-jian, 2012. "Promoting green ICT in China: A framework based on innovation system approaches," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 997-1013.
    3. Michael Murphree & Dan Breznitz, 2018. "Indigenous digital technology standards for development: The case of China," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 1(3), pages 234-252, December.
    4. Kshetri, Nir, 2017. "The evolution of the internet of things industry and market in China: An interplay of institutions, demands and supply," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 49-67.
    5. Hu, Hanhui & Wan, Xing & Lv, Kui & Xu, Min, 2012. "Mapping China's 3G market with the strategic network paradigm," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 977-988.
    6. Kwak, Jooyoung & Lee, Heejin & Chung, Do Bum, 2012. "The evolution of alliance structure in China’s mobile telecommunication industry and implications for international standardization," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 966-976.
    7. Vialle, Pierre & Song, Junjie & Zhang, Jian, 2012. "Competing with dominant global standards in a catching-up context. The case of mobile standards in China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 832-846.
    8. Xia, Jun, 2017. "China’s telecommunications evolution, institutions, and policy issues on the eve of 5G: A two-decade retrospect and prospect," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(10), pages 931-947.
    9. Grimes, Seamus & Du, Debin, 2022. "China's emerging role in the global semiconductor value chain," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(2).
    10. Gao, Ping & Yu, Jiang & Lyytinen, Kalle, 2014. "Government in standardization in the catching-up context: Case of China's mobile system," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 200-209.
    11. Peili Yu & Junguo Shi & Bert M. Sadowski & Önder Nomaler, 2020. "Catching Up in the Face of Technological Discontinuity: Exploring the Role of Demand Structure and Technological Regimes in the Transition from 2G to 3G in China," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 815-841, July.
    12. Liu, Xiaolu & Li, Honglin, 2016. "Ownership domination in standardization: Evidence from Chinese industrial firms," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 225-241.
    13. Liu, Xiaolu & Li, Xiaoyu & Li, Honglin, 2016. "R&D subsidies and business R&D: Evidence from high-tech manufacturing firms in Jiangsu," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1-22.
    14. Wu, Richard W.S. & Leung, Grace L.K., 2012. "Implementation of three network convergence in China: A new institutional analysis," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 955-965.
    15. Kim, Dong-hyu & Lee, Heejin & Kwak, Jooyoung & Seo, DongBack, 2014. "China׳s information security standardization: Analysis from the perspective of technical barriers to trade principles," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 592-600.

    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. Gao, Xudong & Liu, Jianxin, 2012. "Catching up through the development of technology standard: The case of TD-SCDMA in China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 531-545.
    2. Gao, Xudong, 2014. "A latecomer's strategy to promote a technology standard: The case of Datang and TD-SCDMA," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 597-607.
    3. Vialle, Pierre & Song, Junjie & Zhang, Jian, 2012. "Competing with dominant global standards in a catching-up context. The case of mobile standards in China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 832-846.
    4. Giachetti, Claudio & Marchi, Gianluca, 2017. "Successive changes in leadership in the worldwide mobile phone industry: The role of windows of opportunity and firms’ competitive action," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 352-364.
    5. Gao, Ping & Yu, Jiang & Lyytinen, Kalle, 2014. "Government in standardization in the catching-up context: Case of China's mobile system," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 200-209.
    6. Ghezzi, Antonio & Cortimiglia, Marcelo Nogueira & Frank, Alejandro Germán, 2015. "Strategy and business model design in dynamic telecommunications industries: A study on Italian mobile network operators," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 90(PA), pages 346-354.
    7. Zhang, Jing & Liang, Xiong-jian, 2012. "Promoting green ICT in China: A framework based on innovation system approaches," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 997-1013.
    8. Xia, Jun, 2017. "China’s telecommunications evolution, institutions, and policy issues on the eve of 5G: A two-decade retrospect and prospect," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(10), pages 931-947.
    9. Mary Tripsas, 2008. "Customer preference discontinuities: a trigger for radical technological change," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2-3), pages 79-97.
    10. Shen, Wei, 2012. "Deconstructing the myth of Alipay Drama—Repoliticizing foreign investment in the telecommunications sector in China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 929-942.
    11. Yu, Jiang & Zhang, Yue & Gao, Ping, 2012. "Examining China's technology policies for wireless broadband infrastructure," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 847-857.
    12. Michael Murphree & Dan Breznitz, 2018. "Indigenous digital technology standards for development: The case of China," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 1(3), pages 234-252, December.
    13. Whang, Yun-kyung & Hobday, Michael, 2011. "Local 'Test Bed' Market Demand in the Transition to Leadership: The Case of the Korean Mobile Handset Industry," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 1358-1371, August.
    14. Franco Malerba & Richard R. Nelson, 2012. "Introduction," Chapters, in: Franco Malerba & Richard R. Nelson (ed.), Economic Development as a Learning Process, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Funk, Jeffrey L., 2003. "Standards, dominant designs and preferential acquisition of complementary assets through slight information advantages," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1325-1341, September.
    16. Xudong Gao & Ping Zhang & Xielin Liu, 2007. "Competing with MNEs: developing manufacturing capabilities or innovation capabilities," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 87-107, April.
    17. Peilei Fan, 2011. "Innovation, Globalization, and Catch-Up of Latecomers: Cases of Chinese Telecom Firms," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 43(4), pages 830-849, April.
    18. G. Kaa & M. J. Greeven, 2017. "Mobile telecommunication standardization in Japan, China, the United States, and Europe: a comparison of regulatory and industrial regimes," Telecommunication Systems: Modelling, Analysis, Design and Management, Springer, vol. 65(1), pages 181-192, May.
    19. Li, Daitian & Capone, Gianluca & Malerba, Franco, 2019. "The long march to catch-up: A history-friendly model of China’s mobile communications industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 649-664.
    20. Bonani, Michela, 2023. "Essays on innovation, cooperation, and competition under standardization," Other publications TiSEM 1c87d7fc-2c24-430a-9d4e-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.

    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:telpol:v:36:y:2012:i:10:p:817-831. 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: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30471/description#description .

    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.