Windows of Opportunity in the CoPS’s Catch-Up Process: A Case Study of China’s High-Speed Train Industry

Abstract

Over the last 20 years, the rapid development of high-speed Chinese trains has provided valuable guidelines to countries and companies eager to develop their complex product and system (CoPS) sectors. CoPS refers to the high cost and technology-intensive systems, networks, infrastructure and engineering constructs, and services. Although established studies highlight the importance of CoPS to the economy and development of a country, especially those that have yet to develop high-speed rail, scholars have not paid much attention to investigating the catch-up of CoPS industries from the windows of opportunity perspective. We aimed to fill in this research gap by analyzing the successful catch-up of Chinese high-speed trains. Based on a longitudinal case study of this industry, we analyzed and detailed the mechanisms of the catch-up process of a typical CoPS sector and its development. Our results enrich the literature of the catch-up process, CoPS, and the studies of windows of opportunity. In particular, we show that the windows of opportunity that emerge in the catch-up process of CoPS have the characteristics of endogeneity, asymmetry, and relevance. Moreover, our study further indicates that the endogenous windows of opportunity regarding policy result in the development of later windows of technology and demand. We also find that the technology’s windows of opportunity consist of the window to broaden the technology width and the window to deepen the technology depth of latecomers. In addition to theoretical contributions, our findings can help policymakers of latecomer countries better formulate CoPS industrial policies, followed by a gradual progress in successfully catch-up with the leading countries.