Albert Guangzhou Hu

Run by run process control: combining SPC and feedback control

The run by run controller provides a framework for controlling a process which is subject to disturbances such as shifts and drifts as a normal part of its operation. The run by run controller combines the advantages of both statistical process control (SPC) and feedback control. It has three components: rapid mode, gradual mode, and generalized SPC. Rapid mode adapts to sudden shifts in the process such as those caused by maintenance operations. Gradual mode adapts to gradual drifts in the process such as those caused by build-up of deposition inside a reactor. The choice between the two modes is determined by the outcome from generalized SPC which allows SPC to be applied to a process while it is being tuned. The run by run controller has been applied to the control of a silicon epitaxy process in a barrel reactor. Rapid mode recovered the process within 3 runs after a disturbance. Gradual mode reduced the variation of the process by a factor of 2.7 as compared to historical data. >

R&D and Technology Transfer: Firm-Level Evidence from Chinese Industry

In bridging the technology gap with the OECD nations, developing economies have access to three avenues of technological advance: domestic R&D, technology transfer, and foreign direct investment. This paper examines the contributions of each of these avenues, as well as their interactions, to productivity within Chinese industry. Based on a large data set for Chinas large and medium-size enterprises, the estimation results show that in-house R&D significantly complements technology transfer-whether of domestic or foreign origin. Foreign direct investment, which we assume is an important channel of proprietary technology transfer, does not facilitate the transfer of market-mediated foreign technology.

FDI Impact and Spillover: Evidence from China's Electronic and Textile Industries

M ULTINATIONAL Corporations (MNCs) may invest in a host country when they possess ‘non-tangible productive assets’ that cannot be easily licensed but can be transferred within the firm. Direct equity participation in the host country is therefore required for MNCs to reap the rents from their nontangible productive assets, which may include technological know-how, marketing and managing skills, relationships with suppliers and customers, and reputation. If foreign direct investment (FDI) does effectively convey these assets, we should expect FDI to boost the productivity of the host country firms that receive FDI. A more complex issue is the indirect spillover effects of FDI to non-FDI domestic firms. To the extent that FDI may bring new products and technologies to the host country, non-FDI receiving domestic firms may also stand to benefit from FDI through personnel turnover, demonstration effects and knowledge spillovers. The presence of FDI in a certain industry, however, may exert adverse effect on domestic firms in that industry. By enjoying better technologies and lower production costs, firms with FDI may cut into the market share of domestic firms without FDI. In a short run imperfectly competitive market structure, the productivity of domestic firms may be reduced when sales fall, so that fixed costs are spread over fewer units. In the long run, however, the increased competition induced by the increased presence of FDI in domestic industries may force

Ownership, performance, and innovation in China's large- and medium-size industrial enterprise sector

Abstract Chinas 22,000 large- and medium-size enterprises (LMEs) stand at the pinnacle of Chinese industry. Although they account for less than a fraction of a percent of Chinas nearly 8 million industrial enterprises, they collectively account for one third of the nations total industrial output. Using a panel of these enterprise data for 1994–1999, we find a rapidly diversifying ownership structure in which the role of the state is steadily retreating. At the same time, we find considerable variation in measures of performance across ownership types and see emerging within Chinese industry, evidence of high-intensity R&D performers that exhibit substantial innovation capabilities.

Process control system for VLSI fabrication

A modular framework for the implementation of process control in VLSI fabrication is described. The system integrates existing approaches to process control with new methodologies in order to achieve online optimization and control of unit processes with consideration of preceding and following process steps. The process control system is based on three core modules. The flexible recipe generator determines an initial operating point in response to a new product design. The run-by-run controller tunes the recipe between runs based on feedback from postprocess and in situ measurements. The real-time controller further modifies the equipment settings during a process step based on in situ measurements. The algorithmic bases of these modules are described. The flexible recipe generator was used to optimize the LPCVD (low-pressure chemical vapor deposition) of polysilicon. The run-by-run controller was used to locally optimize and control a simulation of the LPCVD of polysilicon. >

Returns to research and development in Chinese industry: Evidence from state-owned enterprises in Beijing

Abstract This paper estimates returns to research and development (R&D) in Chinese industry. Using a firm-level data set on innovation activity in large- and medium-size industrial enterprises during 1991–1997 in the Beijing area, we estimate three equations—an R&D expenditure equation, a production function, and a profit function. Panel data estimation methods are applied to a semibalanced data set constructed from the raw sample. We find substantial and significant returns to R&D in the cross-section dimension. We also find substantial cross-industry variation in the return to R&D, which declined considerably over the sample period. R&D expenditure increases less than proportionately with firm size, it also seems to be unrelated to cash flow.

Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Growth in China: Wu Yanrui, editor; Northampton, MA, USA, Edward Elgar, 1999, 231 pages, ISBN 1-84064-022-7

China is the worlds second largest host for foreign direct investment, outside the US. This book offers insights into the impact of foreign direct investment on Chinas growth and regional development.

The Sources and Sustainability of China's Economic Growth

IN 1978, AT THE outset of its economic reform, China was the world’s tenthlargest economy, with a GDP of about

Multinational Corporations, Patenting, and Knowledge Flow: The Case of Singapore*

150 billion, or less than 6 percent of U.S. GDP at the time. By 2005, however, China’s economy, at

Run-by-run process control: performance benchmarks

2.2 trillion, had grown to become the fourth largest in the world, behind only the United States at