Indigenous Technology Standards for Development: The Case of China

Abstract

Research since the 1980s has considered the economic and innovation impacts of technology standards policies. This paper extends the research on the impact of standardization policies to consider how the policies themselves, governing how the standards are created, determine standards’ impact on emerging economies’ economic performance and innovation capabilities. Using four cases of digital technology standardization in China, this paper finds that combinations of government financial and market support and openness to domestic and foreign contributors determines how and when digital standardization begets positive technological and economic impacts for firms. This paper contributes to our understanding of international technology upgrading in emerging economies, as well as suggesting policies for successful economic upgrading in large emerging economies.