Technology Decomposition and Technology Recombination in Industrial Catch-up for Large Emerging Economies: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Industries

The influence of technological learning on industry-level catch-up has long drawn substantial attention in the catch-up research field. However, the underlying mechanisms of technological learning and the unique catch-up context in large emerging economies are much less explored. To explain the technological learning processes of latecomers that face the technology gap and strive to build differentiated competitive advantage, this study builds on the absorptive capacity perspective and deconstructs technological learning processes into two mechanisms: technology decomposition and technology recombination. The former entails decomposing advanced technologies into pieces, parts, or modules, while the latter entails the process of capturing market opportunities through recombining knowledge from diverse sources into commercial products through localized innovations and adaptations. Then, we propose a unique ‘ladder-like’ catch-up context (i.e., technology ladder and market ladder) and investigate how the technological learning process and the unique catch-up context jointly affect industrial catch-up performance in China. Using seven-year panel data from Chinese manufacturing industries, the results indicate that only technology recombination has a significantly positive relationship with industrial catch-up performance. In addition, the market ladder strengthens the positive impact of technology recombination on industrial catch-up, while the technology ladder weakens the positive impact of technology decomposition on catch-up. 已有文献较多关注了技术学习对产业追赶的影响，但对于大型新兴经济体中后发者的技术学习机制以及独特的追赶情境仍缺乏深入探讨。本文从吸收能力视角出发，指出后发者主要通过技术解构和技术重构进行技术学习，以缩小技术差距、构建差异化竞争优势。技术解构指分解复杂技术，从而掌握该技术架构并理解零部件或模块的功能或原理；技术重构指在产品开发中整合多种来源的知识，进行本地化创新或适应性改进，从而抓住市场机会。进一步，本研究通过技术梯度和市场梯度刻画大型新兴经济体独特的追赶情境，并检验技术学习与产业情境对产业追赶绩效的共同影响。基于中国制造业细分行业七年的面板数据，本研究的实证结果显示，技术重构正向影响产业追赶绩效，并且市场梯度会强化该正效应；技术解构对产业追赶绩效的影响不显著，但技术梯度会负向调节该影响。 Значение освоения технологий для сокращения промышленного отставания уже давно привлекает большое внимание специалистов в области исследований по догоняющему развитию. Однако, глубинные механизмы освоения технологий и уникальные условия догоняющего развития в больших странах с развивающейся экономикой изучены гораздо меньше. С целью прояснить процессы освоения технологий в странах, которые позже других стали на путь индустриализации, столкнулись с технологическим разрывом и стремятся создать особое конкурентное преимущество, проводится это исследование, которое основано на концепции поглощающе