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Have Chinese firms learned from their prior technology in-licensing? An analysis based on patent citations

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Abstract

With the rapid rise of Chinese economy, now ranking as the second largest economy in the world in 2010, many Chinese firms have started taking technological lead in the global market. Nevertheless, whether Chinese firms have learned from their prior in-licensing technologies and accumulated technological capabilities in sustaining their economic growth remains underexplored. This paper aims to fill this void. Using a unique dataset containing the information on licensing for 83 large Chinese firms in the electronic sector during 2000–2004, we find that these firms have successfully learned from the international technologies that they previously licensed-in when subsequent patent citations made by these Chinese licensee firms to their licensed patents are used to identify these successful learners.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. DTU Executive School of Business, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Kgs, Lyngby, Denmark

    Jason Li-Ying

  2. The School of Business, Sichuan University, No. 24, Sect. 1 South, First Ring Road, 610064, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

    Yuandi Wang

  3. DTU Business School, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Kgs, Lyngby, Denmark

    Yuandi Wang

  4. DTU Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Kgs, Lyngby, Denmark

    Søren Salomo

  5. Department of Economics and Business, Hasselt University, Agoralaan-Gebouw D, 3590, Diepenbeek Belgium, Belgium

    Wim Vanhaverbeke

  6. Esade Business School, Avinguda Esplugues 92, 08034, Barcelona, Spain

    Wim Vanhaverbeke

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  1. Jason Li-Ying
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  2. Yuandi Wang
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  4. Wim Vanhaverbeke
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Correspondence to Yuandi Wang.

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Li-Ying, J., Wang, Y., Salomo, S. et al. Have Chinese firms learned from their prior technology in-licensing? An analysis based on patent citations. Scientometrics 95, 183–195 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-012-0802-x

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