IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v55y2013icp305-316.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Factors influencing the technology upgrading and catch-up of Chinese wind turbine manufacturers: Technology acquisition mechanisms and government policies

Author

Listed:
  • Qiu, Yueming
  • Ortolano, Leonard
  • David Wang, Yi

Abstract

This paper uses firm level data for the Chinese wind turbine manufacturing industry from 1998 to 2009 to quantify the effects of technology acquisition mechanisms – purchasing production licenses from foreign manufacturers, joint design with foreign design firms, joint-ventures and domestic R&D – on wind turbine manufacturers' technology levels (as measured by turbine size, in megawatts). It also examines the impacts of government policies on manufacturer technology levels. Technology upgrading (measured by increase of turbine size) and catch-up (measured by decrease in the distance to the world technology frontier in terms of turbine size) are used to measure advances in technology level. Results from econometric modeling studies indicate that firms' technology acquisition mechanisms and degree of business diversification are statistically significant factors in influencing technology upgrading. Similar results were found for the catch-up variable (i.e., distance to the world technology frontier). The influence of government policies is significant for technology upgrading but not catch-up. These and other modeling results are shown to have implications for both policymakers and wind turbine manufacturers.

Suggested Citation

  • Qiu, Yueming & Ortolano, Leonard & David Wang, Yi, 2013. "Factors influencing the technology upgrading and catch-up of Chinese wind turbine manufacturers: Technology acquisition mechanisms and government policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 305-316.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:55:y:2013:i:c:p:305-316
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2012.12.012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421512010579
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.12.012?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. Magnus Blomström & Ari Kokko & Mario Zejan, 2000. "Local Technological Capability and Productivity Spillovers from FDI in the Uruguayan Manufacturing Sector," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Foreign Direct Investment, chapter 11, pages 177-186, Palgrave Macmillan.
    2. Rachel Griffith & Stephen Redding & John Van Reenen, 2004. "Mapping the Two Faces of R&D: Productivity Growth in a Panel of OECD Industries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(4), pages 883-895, November.
    3. Li, Xibao, 2011. "Sources of External Technology, Absorptive Capacity, and Innovation Capability in Chinese State-Owned High-Tech Enterprises," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 1240-1248, July.
    4. Griffith, Rachel & Redding, Stephen & Simpson, Helen, 2002. "Productivity Convergence and Foreign Ownership at the Establishment Level," CEPR Discussion Papers 3765, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Tsai, Kuen-Hung & Wang, Jiann-Chyuan, 2008. "External technology acquisition and firm performance: A longitudinal study," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 91-112, January.
    6. Sourafel Girma & David Greenaway & Katharine Wakelin, 2013. "Who Benefits from Foreign Direct Investment in the UK?," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 60(5), pages 560-574, November.
    7. Zhou, Yuanchun & Zhang, Bing & Zou, Ji & Bi, Jun & Wang, Ke, 2012. "Joint R&D in low-carbon technology development in China: A case study of the wind-turbine manufacturing industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 100-108.
    8. Witold J. Henisz & Jeffrey T. Macher, 2004. "Firm- and Country-Level Trade-offs and Contingencies in the Evaluation of Foreign Investment: The Semiconductor Industry, 1994–2002," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(5), pages 537-554, October.
    9. Benhabib, Jess & Spiegel, Mark M., 2005. "Human Capital and Technology Diffusion," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 13, pages 935-966, Elsevier.
    10. Robert E. Hoskisson & Michael A. Hitt, 1988. "Strategic control systems and relative r&d investment in large multiproduct firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(6), pages 605-621, November.
    11. Mu, Qing & Lee, Keun, 2005. "Knowledge diffusion, market segmentation and technological catch-up: The case of the telecommunication industry in China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 759-783, August.
    12. Sourafel Girma, 2005. "Absorptive Capacity and Productivity Spillovers from FDI: A Threshold Regression Analysis," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 67(3), pages 281-306, June.
    13. Albert G. Z. Hu & Gary H. Jefferson & Qian Jinchang, 2005. "R&D and Technology Transfer: Firm-Level Evidence from Chinese Industry," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(4), pages 780-786, November.
    14. Gershon Feder & Roger Slade, 1984. "The Acquisition of Information and the Adoption of New Technology," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 66(3), pages 312-320.
    15. He, Yulin & Chen, Xinping, 2009. "Wind turbine generator systems. The supply chain in China: Status and problems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(12), pages 2892-2897.
    16. Ru, Peng & Zhi, Qiang & Zhang, Fang & Zhong, Xiaotian & Li, Jianqiang & Su, Jun, 2012. "Behind the development of technology: The transition of innovation modes in China’s wind turbine manufacturing industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 58-69.
    17. Giovanni L. Violante, 2002. "Technological Acceleration, Skill Transferability, and the Rise in Residual Inequality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(1), pages 297-338.
    18. Sourafel Girma & David Greenaway & Katharine Wakelin, 2013. "Who Benefits from Foreign Direct Investment in the UK?," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 60(5), pages 560-574, November.
    19. Sourafel Girma & Holger Görg, 2007. "The Role of the Efficiency Gap for Spillovers from FDI: Evidence from the UK Electronics and Engineering Sectors," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 215-232, April.
    20. Kamien,Morton I. & Schwartz,Nancy L., 1982. "Market Structure and Innovation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521293853, December.
    21. Bin, Guo, 2008. "Technology acquisition channels and industry performance: An industry-level analysis of Chinese large- and medium-size manufacturing enterprises," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 194-209, March.
    22. Mody, Ashoka, 1990. "Institutions and Dynamic Comparative Advantage: The Electronics Industry in South Korea and Taiwan," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 14(3), pages 291-314, September.
    23. Weinberg, Bruce A., 2004. "Experience and Technology Adoption," IZA Discussion Papers 1051, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    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. Dey, Bidit L. & Babu, Mujahid Mohiuddin & Rahman, Mizan & Dora, Manoj & Mishra, Nishikant, 2019. "Technology upgrading through co-creation of value in developing societies: Analysis of the mobile telephone industry in Bangladesh," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 413-425.
    2. Xia, Fang & Song, Feng, 2017. "The uneven development of wind power in China: Determinants and the role of supporting policies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 278-286.
    3. Nnaemeka Vincent Emodi & Girish Panchakshara Murthy & Chinenye Comfort Emodi & Adaeze Saratu Augusta Emodi, 2017. "Factors Influencing Innovation and Industrial Performance in Chinese Manufacturing Industry," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 14(06), pages 1-32, December.
    4. Jin, Baoling & Han, Ying & Kou, Po, 2023. "Dynamically evaluating the comprehensive efficiency of technological innovation and low-carbon economy in China's industrial sectors," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    5. Syeda Tamkeen Fatima, 2017. "Globalization and technology adoption: evidence from emerging economies," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(6), pages 724-758, August.
    6. Wang, Xiaozhen & Zou, Honghui, 2018. "Study on the effect of wind power industry policy types on the innovation performance of different ownership enterprises: Evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 241-252.
    7. Xiong, Jie & Zhao, Shuyan & Meng, Yan & Xu, Lu & Kim, Seong-Young, 2022. "How latecomers catch up to build an energy-saving industry: The case of the Chinese electric vehicle industry 1995–2018," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    8. Yoonhwan Oh & Jungsub Yoon & Jeong-Dong Lee, 2016. "Evolutionary Patterns of Renewable Energy Technology Development in East Asia (1990–2010)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(8), pages 1-24, July.
    9. Dabo Guan & David M. Reiner & Zhu Liu, 2014. "China’s road to a global scientific powerhouse," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1447, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    10. Zhao, Zhen-yu & Sun, Guang-zheng & Zuo, Jian & Zillante, George, 2013. "The impact of international forces on the Chinese wind power industry," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 131-141.

    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. Hübler, Michael & Lontzek, Thomas S., 2009. "The optimal transfer of capital and embodied technologies to developing countries," Kiel Working Papers 1478, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    2. Hübler, Michael, 2009. "Avoiding the trap: the dynamic interaction of North-South capital mobility and technology diffusion," Kiel Working Papers 1477, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    3. Neil Foster-McGregor, 2012. "Innovation and Technology Transfer across Countries," wiiw Research Reports 380, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    4. Sourafel Girma, 2005. "Absorptive Capacity and Productivity Spillovers from FDI: A Threshold Regression Analysis," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 67(3), pages 281-306, June.
    5. Jitao Tang & Rosanne Altshuler, 2015. "The Spillover Effects Of Outward Foreign Direct Investment On Home Countries: Evidence From The United States," Departmental Working Papers 201501, Rutgers University, Department of Economics.
    6. Lai, Mingyong & Wang, Hua & Zhu, Shujin, 2009. "Double-edged effects of the technology gap and technology spillovers: Evidence from the Chinese industrial sector," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 414-424, September.
    7. Greenaway, David & Görg, Holger, 2002. "Much Ado About Nothing? Do Domestic Firms Really Benefit from Foreign Investment?," CEPR Discussion Papers 3485, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Sourafel Girma & Holger Görg & Mauro Pisu, 2016. "Exporting, linkages and productivity spillovers from foreign direct investment," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES AND HOST COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT Volume 53: World Scientific Studies in International Economics, chapter 10, pages 191-211, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    9. Shahid Yusuf & Kaoru Nabeshima, 2009. "Growth through Innovation : An Industrial Strategy for Shanghai," World Bank Publications - Reports 18613, The World Bank Group.
    10. Shawn W. Tan & Dea Tusha, 2023. "Foreign firm characteristics, labour market restrictions and FDI spillovers: Evidence from Moldova," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 85-119, January.
    11. Yuandi Wang & Lutao Ning & Jian Li & Martha Prevezer, 2016. "Foreign Direct Investment Spillovers and the Geography of Innovation in Chinese Regions: The Role of Regional Industrial Specialization and Diversity," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(5), pages 805-822, May.
    12. Argentino Pessoa, 2007. "FDI and Host Country Productivity: A Review," FEP Working Papers 251, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    13. Holger Görg & David Greenaway, 2016. "Much Ado about Nothing? Do Domestic Firms Really Benefit from Foreign Direct Investment?," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES AND HOST COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT Volume 53: World Scientific Studies in International Economics, chapter 9, pages 163-189, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    14. Sourafel Girma & Holger Görg, 2007. "The Role of the Efficiency Gap for Spillovers from FDI: Evidence from the UK Electronics and Engineering Sectors," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 215-232, April.
    15. Richard Perkins & Eric Neumayer, 2012. "Do recipient country characteristics affect international spillovers of CO 2 -efficiency via trade and foreign direct investment?," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 112(2), pages 469-491, May.
    16. Klaus E Meyer & Evis Sinani, 2009. "When and where does foreign direct investment generate positive spillovers? A meta-analysis," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 40(7), pages 1075-1094, September.
    17. Fernando Ubeda & Francisco Pérez-Hernández, 2017. "Absorptive Capacity and Geographical Distance Two Mediating Factors of FDI Spillovers: a Threshold Regression Analysis for Spanish Firms," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 1-28, March.
    18. Jingtao Yi & Yan Chen & Chengqi Wang & Mario Kafouros, 2015. "Spillover Effects of Foreign Direct Investment: How do Region-Specific Institutions Matter?," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 55(4), pages 539-561, August.
    19. Georgios Fotopoulos & Helen Louri, 2004. "Firm Growth and FDI: Are Multinationals Stimulating Local Industrial Development?," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 163-189, September.
    20. Peng Li & Yaofu Ouyang, 2020. "Technical Change and Green Productivity," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 76(2), pages 271-298, July.

    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:enepol:v:55:y:2013:i:c:p:305-316. 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/locate/enpol .

    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.