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Technology Transmission Across National Innovation Systems: The Role of Danish Suppliers in Upgrading the Wind Energy Industry in China

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Abstract


This paper advances our understanding of how technology upgrading in the Chinese wind turbine industry is linked to internationalisation of Danish component suppliers. In order to grasp the interlinkages and implications hereof, the paper combines perspectives of global value chains (GVC), national innovation systems (NIS) and firm-level capabilities. The paper employs a qualitative methodology, drawing on explorative case studies of component suppliers and their links to lead firms in the wind turbine industry. The findings of the paper highlight the new pattern of upgrading by upstream linkages, i.e. linking up with global suppliers in the wind turbine global value chain, and the new role of component suppliers as technology transmitters across national innovation systems into emerging markets. Conceptually, the paper contributes to understanding how technological catching up in value chains links to the intersection between national innovation systems, a process driven by global value chain dynamics.


Cet article fait progresser notre compréhension de la façon dont la modernisation de la technologie dans l’industrie éolienne chinoise est liée à l’internationalisation des fournisseurs de composants danois. Afin d’en saisir les interdépendances et les implications, l’article combine les perspectives des chaînes de valeur mondiales (CVM), des systèmes d’innovation nationaux (SIN) et des capacités au niveau de l’entreprise. L’article utilise une méthodologie qualitative, s’appuyant sur des études de cas exploratoires de fournisseurs de composants et de leurs liens avec des entreprises de pointe dans l’industrie des éoliennes. Les conclusions de l’article mettent en avant la nouvelle tendance de modernisation grâce aux liens en amont, à savoir la connexion avec les fournisseurs mondiaux dans la chaîne de valeur mondiale des éoliennes et le nouveau rôle des fournisseurs de composants comme transmetteurs de technologie dans les systèmes nationaux d’innovation et jusque dans les marchés émergents. Sur le plan conceptuel, l’article contribue à comprendre comment le rattrapage technologique dans les chaînes de valeur est lié à l’intersection entre les systèmes d’innovation nationaux, un processus conduit par la dynamique de la chaîne de valeur mondiale.

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Acknowledgements

The authors of this paper are grateful for research support from the Sino-Danish Center for Resarch and Education.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business and Politics, Copenhagen Business School, Porcelænshaven 24, Ground Floor, 2000, Frederiksberg, Denmark

    Stine Jessen Haakonsson

  2. Department of Business and Management, Aalborg University, Fibigerstraede 4, 9220, Aalborg, Denmark

    Dmitrij Slepniov

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  1. Stine Jessen Haakonsson
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  2. Dmitrij Slepniov
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Correspondence to Stine Jessen Haakonsson.

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Haakonsson, S.J., Slepniov, D. Technology Transmission Across National Innovation Systems: The Role of Danish Suppliers in Upgrading the Wind Energy Industry in China. Eur J Dev Res 30, 462–480 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-018-0128-5

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