Jason Li-Ying

Have Chinese firms learned from their prior technology in-licensing? An analysis based on patent citations

With the rapid rise of Chinese economy, now ranking as the second largest economy in the world in 2010, many Chinese firms have started taking technological lead in the global market. Nevertheless, whether Chinese firms have learned from their prior in-licensing technologies and accumulated technological capabilities in sustaining their economic growth remains underexplored. This paper aims to fill this void. Using a unique dataset containing the information on licensing for 83 large Chinese firms in the electronic sector during 2000–2004, we find that these firms have successfully learned from the international technologies that they previously licensed-in when subsequent patent citations made by these Chinese licensee firms to their licensed patents are used to identify these successful learners.

Knowledge sharing and affective commitment: the mediating role of psychological ownership

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the meditating role of psychological ownership which includes both organisation-based psychological ownership (OPO) and knowledge-based psychological ownership (KPO) on the relationship between affective commitment and knowledge sharing. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is an empirical study based on structural equation modelling, with a sample of 293 employees from 31 high-technology firms in China. Findings – The result indicated that affective commitment had a significant positive effect on OPO but no effect on KPO; OPO was positively related to both common and key knowledge sharing, while KPO exerted a negative impact on both; common knowledge sharing was positively related to key knowledge sharing; the relationship between affective commitment and key knowledge sharing was multi-mediated by OPO and common knowledge sharing. Originality/value – OPO and KPO play an essential role in transferring the effect of employees’ affective commitment ...

How do the BRIC countries play their roles in the global innovation arena? A study based on USPTO patents during 1990---2009

This paper proposes a new taxonomy for the internationalization patterns of innovation of the BRIC countries within the global innovation landscape during the period 1990–2009. Based on the BRICs’ patents granted by the USPTO, we find (1) the BRICs gradually increased their roles in the global innovation arena with various degrees of internationalization; (2) the domestic-dominant pattern has widely countered the foreign dominance of innovation, while the collaborative multi-dominant pattern has increased; (3) a divergence of the BRICs’ global innovation output growth emerged, while their internationalization pattern portfolios evolved towards greater similarity; and (4) China has differentiated itself by increasing its global innovation influence.

Chinese multinationals in Denmark: Testing the eclectic framework and internalization theory

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explain in detail the strategic asset‐seeking OFDIs of Chinese firms in Denmark through a theoretical lens that combines the updated OLI (Ownership, Location, Internalization) paradigm and the internalization theory. Meanwhile, the authors hope to unveil the unique characteristics of firm specific advantages (FSAs, including O and I advantages) and country specific advantages (CSAs, including L advantages).Design/methodology/approach – The authors chose two case firms that just started investing and a third one that was in the process of preparing investment in Denmark. Primary data were collected by semi‐structured interviews in English at various locations in late 2009 and early 2010. The three Chinese firms in this study share a common primary objective in their strategic orientation of OFDIs. That is to seek strategic assets that are complementary and critical to augment their existing FSAs.Findings – Rugman stated that strategic asset‐seeking OFDIs are suppos...

What do we need from intermediaries for technology transfer to China? A European firm perspective

Cross-national technology transfer has been one of the most important vehicles by which firms in developed countries exploit the value of their technological innovations, and firms in developing countries gain access to technological and organizational knowledge from developed economies. To facilitate technology transfer between technology providers and recipients and to compensate for the weakness in the system of innovation, the role of technology intermediaries as bridging organizations has been widely recognized and discussed. This study deepens our understanding of the role of intermediaries by, first, reconciling the role and functions of technology intermediaries in the literature to a competence level based on a resource-based view in a specific context of technology transfer between Europe and China; and second, investigating whether certain competences of intermediaries are of more importance than others for European technology holders in relation to three different types of intermediaries – governmental agencies, private commercial agencies and web-based marketplaces.

The reverse tragedy of the commons: an exploratory account of incentives for under-exploitation in an open innovation environment*

ABSTRACT This paper presents an empirical account of a phenomenon that we refer to as the ‘reverse tragedy of the commons’ in open innovation. The name signifies the ‘under-exploitation’ of intellectual property (IP) under weak appropriability. The name is this graphic because the tragedy is costly, and can also render IP effectively worthless and block innovation in the short to medium term. We propose that the tragedy is borne out of the interaction between enterprise characteristics, a competitive setting and the framework that is set by the policy intervention. This finding is pertinent to policy-makers with regard to the design of research, development and innovation instruments, as well as managers who must determine how to implement open practices in innovation.