Technology Transfer

Technology Diffusion and Commercialization

Technology transfer

A technology developed by an organization for a particular purpose was further given to other entities in order to exploit its potential in some areas. A transfer/transformation/transition process between the technology originator/possessor and the receiver

The economic view of technology transfer

Information is the intrinsic core Technology is the exterior expression Practice Research Approach
Information economics, Transaction cost Economics, Institutional Economics

The transferring level

Internationalfrom the DCs to NICs or LDCs Regionalindigenous vs. foreign Industrialthe threat of outsiders Corporationlicensing program Internalthe issue of transferring price

Channels of technology flow

Public dissemination Reverse engineering Purposeful acquisition

Licensing Franchise Joint venture Turkey project Foreign direct investment Technological consortium & joint R&D

Technology consortia

Some European technological development consortia coordinated by EC/EU

ITC consortia for developing and marketing of IT & communication technologies The term of fair and non-discrimination licensing for necessary patents

Race (Research in Advanced Communication in Europe) ESPRIT (European Specific Programs of Information Technology) JESSI (Joint European Submicron Silicon program) EUREKA (European Research Coordination Agency) Airbus (Mercedes-Benz & British Aerospace, etc)

Technology transfer crossing industries

U.S. Department of defense

1980 Stevenson-Wydler technology innovation act 1986 technology transfer act 1989 national competitiveness & technology transfer act

E.g., the 2G CDMA mobile technology

International technology transfer

The goose-fleet patternthe international technology transfer from U.S. to Japan, and then retransfer to four Asia Tigers, and Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Vietanam, etc. (the TLC
model for international technology transfer according to the cost of factors)

Singaporean lessons

Government championship Efficient public order and stable political regime Advanced infrastructure Facilitate the establishment of Asian operation center for global corporations

Taiwanese lessons

National industrial championship The high flexibility of medium- and small-sized corporations National technological research & incubation center for facilitating technology diffusion evaluation and imitation of technology Focus on the manufacturing capability Science & technology park for fostering the industry cluster Transplanting the deeply absorptive capacity overseas education, training and homing returns

The action-and-reaction between transferor and transferee

Information asymmetries The territory exclusion term The obligation of technology feedbackthe claim of cross licensing The syndrome of not-invent-here The incentive of invention around

The macro view of international technology transfer

Counterparts

the private enterprises of developed countries, LDs (transferor), vs. the governments of less developed countries, LDCs (transferee)

The transferor

economic gains of technology by strategically taking the advantage

of LDCs (transferees)

The transferee

the governmental interventions for GDP growth contributed from the expected technology externalities of transfer prevent the indigenous resources and employment from being

exploited

The processes of technology transfer are more political than economic negotiation

Analysis framework of international transfer of technology

DCs supply side

transaction mechanism:
perceived transaction cost governance structure designing

.the nature of technology .wholly owned or majority-owned subsidiary .selection, negotiation, drafting, (direct foreign investment package) bonding cost of contracts .equity joint venture .legal system for IPR .the contractual joint venture .political stability .partnership or strategic alliance .social context and cultural congruence .pure contract (licensing, technical assistance) .financial and taxation policy market .localized, customized, decentralized .the education level and absorptive ability vs. globalized, standardized, centralized macro

micro

hierarchy

demand side LDCs

.market potential & economics of scale

Comparison with technology diffusion and transfer

Rogers diffusion focus Robinson's transfer focus Maturity status of art of tech Dynamism Availability Complexity functional Imitability Relative Importance degree of tech Environment specificity specificity Scale specificity of technology Firm specificity Factor specificity Product/process types of Core/peripheral Production continuity technology

Relative advantage Compatibility Complexity Triability Observability

Transfer concerning focus

Technology transaction mode

The nature of technology: general/specific, tacit/explicit, tangible/intangible, mature/emerging, standardized/integrated, product design/process integration The phase of transfer :development/production/marketing
payments of transfer: time base or performance criteria installation/operation/profitability measurement of transfer: metering scale and information monitoring Home country: the policy of leakage/security Host country: the policy of spillover/employment

Accompanying mechanism

Circumstance & context

Evolutionary process

Technology absorptive capacity

Resource endowment, people talent, education system, path dependence, infrastructure/property law/business managerial practice/social norm Appropriate technologycriteria defined by political, social, and economic development and progress Availability of complements: the trade-off between the broadly low-end and the scarce high-end cluster

Extended readings

Transfer of Technology: Theory, Issues, and Practice, Ballinger Pub Co. Johnson, Chalmers A. (1983), MITI and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy, 1925-1975, Stanford University Press.

Robinson, Richard (1988), The International