Maximilian Von Zedtwitz

This paper evaluates the ability of “forced technology transfer” (FTT) policies – i.e., policies meant to increase foreign-domestic technology transfer that simultaneously weaken appropriability of foreign innovations – to contribute to technology transfer. We focus on transfer of frontier technology in China's newly designated “strategic emerging industries” (SEIs). Drawing on a survey of foreign firms, extensive interviews with foreign firms, and case studies of Chinese firms, we identify three categories of FTT policies in SEIs: “lose the market”, “no choice”, and “violate the law” policies. Our thematic analysis finds that FTT policies likely exert the most leverage over (i.e., force) frontier technology transfer when accompanied by seven conditions: (1) strong state support for industrial growth, (2) oligopoly competition, (3) other policies closely complementing FTT policies, (4) high technological uncertainty, (5) policy mode of operation offering basic appropriability and tailored to industrial structure, (6) reform avoidance by the state, and (7) stringent policy compliance mechanisms. We develop a Strategy & Risk Matrix to forecast the overall leverage of individual FTT policies. We conclude that Chinese FTT policies may enable domestic acquisition of frontier foreign technology if all seven conditions determining policy leverage are fully exploited by the state. However, if this is not the case, the policies have weaker leverage and may even discourage technology transfer.

Production-oriented foreign investments have been one of the main drivers for the renaissance of the Chinese economy. Yet, new impulses are emerging through rapidly increasing R&D activities of multinationals in China. The success of foreign R&D depends strongly on a realistic long term strategy and thorough management of the risks. By Dr. Max von Zedtwitz and Dipl. Wirtsch.-Ing. Zheng Han. [http://cn.swisscham.org/sites/default/files/publications/Bridge%20no6-Full%20version.pdf]

技术发展与中国标准竞争 (Ji Shu Fa Zhan Yu Zhong Guo Biao Zhun Jing Zheng), publication in Chinese

China's re-emergence has been treated mostly from economic and political standpoints. This article integrates these perspectives with a review of China's modern history of research and development (R&D). It starts with a brief retrospective of China's efforts in science and technology before the reforms of 1978. It then discusses China's principle R&D issues in the early 1980s and the most significant results of 20 years of rapid industrialization. Based on this historic review and a wide literature analysis, some observations are made about China's R&D capabilities in the first years of the new millennium as well as what challenges may still lie ahead for China before becoming a leading source of scientific and technological innovation.

This paper focuses on the management of R&D units established by foreign companies in China, investigating R&D missions, site build-up, integration with the parent organization, and overall performance measurement. The research is based on 37 qualitative expert interviews with local R&D directors and managers conducted between 2001 and 2004, using a semi-structured research questionnaire, and semi-quantitative research done on 199 foreign R&D labs in China. Cultural influences on R&D management, location advantages, expatriate involvement, and organizational evolution of local laboratories are discussed. We find that foreign R&D laboratories in China are not only important vehicles for local market development but also increasingly important sources of locally developed technology.