Chinese institutions and standardization: The case of government support to domestic third generation cellular standard

There are unique and distinct institutional processes associated with the Chinese government's support of the domestically developed third generation (3G) cellular standard, TD-SCDMA. After postponing several times, China awarded three third generation cellular licenses in January 2009: a TD-SCDMA license to China Mobile, a CDMA 2000 license to China Telecom and a WCDMA license to China Unicom. The Chinese government has demonstrated a clear bias in favor of TD-SCDMA. This article examines the role of formal and informal institutions in shaping the Chinese 3G landscape. This paper makes two contributions to the literature. First, this work extends studies on institutional theory focusing on standardization to the context of China. Second, unlike most ICT research which deals with standards originated in the West, this paper's focus on developing country-originated standard provides novel and unique insights related to institutional processes.     

Competition and regulation in China's 3G/4G mobile communications industry—Institutions,governance, and telecom SOEs

When it comes to the analysis of the intrinsic mechanism of market behaviors and hence competition development and regulatory imperatives in the Chinese telecommunications industry, currently there is no consistent pattern offered in the literature. In China's emergent 3G/4G era, market behaviors can be affected by various institutional factors, along with various forms of informal forces, which may translate into different implications for competition regulation. Based on extensive archival research and interview, this current study aims to bridge the gap by following an interpretive approach. An input–output model was substantiated for pattern-matching in the Chinese context base on the postulation of a series of propositions and hence Industry-Gray-Box. Accordingly, two categories of market behaviors, that is, market-driven vs. institutions-driven, were arguably delineated as being underpinning the competition development. Policy implications and future reform imperatives were discussed. This study may advance knowledge in terms of: (1) the establishment of a relatively consistent pattern for mapping the landscape of China's communications industry; (2) the substantiation of the inner working mechanism of China's SOE system in the telecommunications sector; and (3) original first attempt in identifying different roles of telecom SOEs and the governing forces that affect them. The paper also offers extensive and cohesive insights on China's formal and informal institutional environment in general and for telecommunications in particular. Measurements developed in this study may serve as basis for future study.     

Exploring the structural effects of the ICT sector in the Greek economy: A quantitative approach based on input-output and network analysis

The aim of this paper is to present a quantification approach for the calculation of the ICT sector's structural effects in the economy, focusing on the case of Greece. We construct a composite sector using a hypothetical extraction methodology based on the most recent Greek input-output table and structural business statistics at the national level. Our framework builds on the formal definition of the ICT sector provided by OECD and includes two distinct sub-components, ICT manufacturing and ICT services. In the second stage of this study, we explore the production linkages among ICT services, ICT manufacturing and the rest of the Greek industries using input-output-based and network analysis-based metrics that build on the intermediate transactions of an expanded input-output table of the Greek economy that includes the two sectors. Our empirical findings suggest that the total ICT sector has a major contribution to the Greek economy in terms of GDP and employment, but this is driven mainly by the ICT services component. We further identify that ICT services are more integrated in the Greek production network compared to ICT manufacturing, but their production linkages are underperforming in terms of meaningful contribution to the activity of the rest of the sectors. These results reflect the low integration of digital technologies and can be further embedded in a discussion on the ICT deficiencies of the Greek economy and the need for targeted regulatory and financial interventions.     

The evolution of the internet of things industry and market in China: An interplay of institutions,demands and supply

This paper seeks to provide some explanation as to how demand-, supply- and institutions-related factors in China have affected the creation and diffusion of Internet of Things (IoT)-related products and services. Concerning demand side factors the paper demonstrates how potential market size and existing technology trajectory work in favor of IoT diffusion. As a related demand side factor the paper argues that, in terms of the technological trajectory, China has started farther from the frontier than most industrialized countries. The degree of incremental benefit from the IoT is thus higher in the country. As to the supply side factors, the article promotes an understanding of how Chinese technology companies have capitalized on a huge user base to develop IoT-based applications. It also suggests that technologies and expertise provided by foreign multinationals have also played crucial roles. Regarding formal institutions, the government's proactive policies have been a major factor in the IoT's evolution. It is also in the Chinese government's interest to develop IoT products to make censorship and surveillance more effective. Regarding informal institutions, Chinese consumers are less concerned than Westerners about being tracked and monitored, which provides a favorable condition for the adoption of IoT-enabled devices. Nonetheless, this condition is changing due to increasing abuse of consumer privacy. China and the U.S. are compared in terms of diffusion, key determinants, performance indicators and impacts of the IoT in order to understand the areas that China outperforms—and underperforms—the U.S. Some indicators are proposed to gauge the IoT-related performance and the impacts of the IoT.     

Juggling ecumenical wisdoms and xenophobic institutions: Framing and modelling China's telecommunications universal service and rural digitalization initiatives and policies

China historically belongs to a farming civilization, in which rural population tended to stick to their farmlands for a lifetime. This situation has somehow been changing with, inter alia, the advancement and application of modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). In recent years, China has been pushing for the inclusion of its rural communities into modern information society through aggressively digitalizing its rural areas under a public policy umbrella. With the literature's lopsided focus on Western nations, a cohesive paradigm in mapping the Chinese style of universal service implementation remains elusive, a situation that has often obfuscated deeper understanding of the Chinese case from a socioeconomic, technological, or institutional perspective. The main purpose of this present paper lies in the framing and modelling of China's universal service and rural digitalization practices. The paper proposes and applies an integrated offer–agent–target (OAT) framework in a retrospective and empirical examination of the Chinese case and conceptual characterization of what has appeared to be the Chinese model. In so doing, China's universal service development is demarcated into discernible stages that are then pattern-matched with corresponding institutional landscapes. Three salient stages are identified and corresponding institutional landscapes explicated. Finally, insights and suggestions are offered that throws lights on the current issues and future developments.     

我国农村非正规金融探析

目前,在我国广大农村地区,现代正规金融和传统非正规金融并存,非正规金融规模甚至超过了正规金融。在我国农村经济发展中,非正规金融起着越来越重要的作用。文章分析了我国非正规金融活跃发展的现实原因。从而提出促进我国农村金融发展建议。     

Measuring convergence of China's ICT industry: An input-output analysis

The convergence of the information and communication technology (ICT) industry is ubiquitous phenomena, which can be classified from the supply/demand side or complementary/substitute relation. According to the classification, the paper measures the convergence of China's ICT sectors based on its 2002 input-output (IO) table, including five manufacturing sectors and two service sectors. Then, using IO table cross-entropy updating technique, the paper investigates the convergence evolution of four ICT manufacturing sectors from 1997 to 2002. The research finds the following conclusions. In 2002, the supply side convergence of manufacturing sectors was higher than that of service sectors, while service sectors featured a higher degree of the demand side convergence. The year of 2002 witnessed high complementary convergence between some China's ICT manufacturing and service sectors. During the period from 1997 to 2002, the supply side convergence dominated the convergence of China's ICT industry, while the demand-side convergence experienced little structural change.     

工作—家庭平衡的企业制度安排

工作已经通过网络渗入家庭,员工面临严重的工作—家庭冲突,影响组织绩效和生活质量。工作—家庭平衡作为企业家庭伦理理论的核心问题已成为制度设计的中心问题。对工作—家庭平衡制度安排的理论与实证研究发现,工作—家庭平衡还没有成为政府、企业和员工的共享信念,制度设计失去社会价值观基础;弹性工作制是有效的正式企业制度;家庭照顾福利是无效的正式企业制度;经理须持之以恒支持员工平衡工作—家庭需要、控制因享用工作—家庭平衡福利而带来的负面职业生涯后果。两者是有效的非正式制度安排。据此提出的政策建议是:政府要在全社会倡导、培育以工作—家庭平衡为核心的企业家庭伦理管理哲学、提供家庭照顾福利作为公共制度供给;企业进行系统的组织文化改造;员工培育照顾家庭的应得权利感。     

ICT-specific technological change and economic growth in Korea

This study investigates the role of information and communication technology-specific technological change in Korea's past and future. The contribution of information and communication technology (ICT) to past economic growth through embodied technology in intermediate inputs and investment goods is revealed by the growth accounting methodology, which considers quality adjustment. Relative prices between ICT-related products and other goods provide an indirect measure for identifying embodied technologies. Meanwhile, ICT's contribution to future economic growth is examined via policy simulations using the computable general equilibrium model. The results imply that ICT has grown Korea's economy and that policy measures for increasing ICT investment are required for continued sustainable growth.     

An evaluation of China's evolving broadband policy: An ecosystem’s perspective

Although it is generally agreed that governments should have some roles in the development of broadband, questions about the specific role of governments remain unanswered, particularly from the perspective of developing countries. This paper evaluates China’s evolving broadband policy by developing a two-dimensional analytical framework, with the different stages of broadband development represented by columns and the four components of broadband ecosystem represented by rows. Generally speaking, China's telecommunications development has been driven by investments from government-allied entities and features a strong industrial policy. However, the Chinese government has chosen a somewhat soft-intervention approach in broadband development and relied on the market itself to grow by creating a competitive market structure. As the market has recently evolved to a certain degree of saturation, there is a seemingly shift of emphasis in China's broadband policy from infrastructure buildup and service provision to application creation and user demand stimulation. However, China’s broadband future is uncertain due to unsettled but important institutional and financial issues. Policy changes appear not to keep up with the broadband ecosystem evolution.     

华赛开辟新战场

左手洽购3Com,右手又在拥抱赛门铁克,左右手同时出击的华为,在与跨国公司进行的商业游戏中显得游刃有余,华为究竟意欲何为呢?赛门铁克和3Com都是美国公司,而北美市场一直都是华为觊觎已久但又是不得门而入的"世外桃源",尽管联合贝恩资本洽购3Com未果,但是华为和赛门铁克的合作却已经拉开序幕。无论最终会与赛门铁克和3Com这两大跨国公司形成什么样的战略关系,华为始终是这场利益互换游戏中的主导者。而且,当市场不断为华为增加筹码,竞合游戏的天平自然而然就会向华为倾斜。在和跨国公司的反复竞合中,我们看到的是华为日益惊人的商业驾驭能力和市场掌控能力。     

3com命系华为

左手洽购3Com,右手又在拥抱赛门铁克,左右手同时出击的华为,在与跨国公司进行的商业游戏中显得游刃有余,华为究竟意欲何为呢?赛门铁克和3Com都是美国公司,而北美市场一直都是华为觊觎已久但又是不得门而入的"世外桃源",尽管联合贝恩资本洽购3Com未果,但是华为和赛门铁克的合作却已经拉开序幕。无论最终会与赛门铁克和3Com这两大跨国公司形成什么样的战略关系,华为始终是这场利益互换游戏中的主导者。而且,当市场不断为华为增加筹码,竞合游戏的天平自然而然就会向华为倾斜。在和跨国公司的反复竞合中,我们看到的是华为日益惊人的商业驾驭能力和市场掌控能力。     

The evolution of China's satellite policy

Thirty years have passed since China started its satellite program. Due to differences in political environment, economic situation and social context, China's satellite policies were quite different from other countries'. This article examines why and how China's satellite technology was adopted, developed and applied. Emphasis is placed on the evolution of China's satellite policies, and historical and socio-contextual interpretations are provided to trace the factors that caused changes in these policies. In addition, both the advantages and disadvantages resulting from these policies for different periods are discussed.     

ICT diffusion and production in ASEAN countries: Patterns,performance, and policy directions

ICT has become an increasingly crucial catalyst for economic development, but the transition to more sophisticated technologies is a challenging process requiring prudent vision, strategy, and policy. This paper investigates the dynamics of ASEAN countries’ performance on embracing the ICT revolution for development. Several findings stand out. First, ASEAN experienced a faster pace of convergence, compared to the rest of the world, in level of ICT diffusion over the past 10 years. Second, all ASEAN countries, including Singapore – the leading player, face increasing challenges in competing with income-level peers on ICT diffusion performance. ASEAN is a global hub of ICT hardware production and a fast-growing center of ICT services exports. In terms of revealed comparative advantage, ASEAN as an economy is strong in ICT hardware but remains weak in ICT services. The paper discusses policy insights drawn from the study and proposes a strategic policy framework to guide ASEAN’s concerted efforts to embrace the ICT revolution for development.     

Inclusive growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Exploring the interaction between ICT diffusion,and financial development

Despite the momentous rise in ICT diffusion, and financial development in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), their plausible joint effect on inclusive growth have not been explored, leaving a lacuna in the literature. This study, therefore, examines the direct and indirect effects of ICT diffusion on inclusive growth in 42 SSA countries over the period 1980–2019. We provide evidence robust to several specifications from the dynamic system GMM to show that: (i) ICT skills, access and usage induce inclusive growth in SSA, and (ii) the effects of ICT skills, access and usage are enhanced in the presence of financial development. These findings remain the same when we focussed on financial institution access. Policy recommendations are provided in line with the region's green growth agenda and striving efforts at improving socioeconomic development.     

Technology Commercialization in Road Infrastructure: How Government Affects the Variation and Appropriability of Technology

Successful technology commercialization is important for business profitability, and government policies can help or hinder firms' success. As a regulator, government affects standard setting and the nature and scope of property rights. As a sponsor, government can empower technology commercialization by its financial support of new technology. As a first user, government can significantly enhance the chances of successful technology commercialization. And as a buyer, government accounts for a substantial part of the world economy. Previous research on government's roles in technology commercialization mainly addressed the effects of specific roles. However, there is little understanding about the combined impact of these roles on technology commercialization. This article develops a conceptual model to analyze the combined effect of these roles on technology development projects. This model is based on a review of the literature on large technical systems, technological regimes, and technology policy that enabled this study on government's diverse roles in technology commercialization. To refine the conceptual model, an in‐depth analysis of three technology development projects was conducted. The empirical findings are drawn from road infrastructure. In that sector, government is the dominant customer and first user of most new technologies. Therefore, government has to create a market for those technologies and strongly affects their viability. This research has produced several major results. First, the developed model is the first to conceptualize the relevant relationships between the various roles of government in technology commercialization. Second, this study has shown that government's behavior as a regulator and sponsor conflicts with its preferences as a buyer and user. Consequently, the support of and demand for new technology is inconsistent and uncoordinated, leaving firms with significant uncertainties in assessing market opportunities. Third, the dominant position of government as a buyer in road infrastructure weakens the effectiveness of intellectual property rights. Fourth, existing studies on technology for partially public goods are mainly historical accounts, and only a few are empirical studies on innovation processes. This study provides an in‐depth analysis of the development and commercialization of technology for partially public goods. This article concludes with policy implications and suggestions for future research. An important policy implication is that government could improve technology commercialization by either stimulating the commercialization of various competing technologies or developing various competing products based on the same technology. A central issue for future research is how firms can involve government in its diverse roles in technology commercialization. Most of the existing research on customer involvement deals with consumer and business‐to‐business markets. A better understanding of government involvement could help firms to overcome the impediments they face in dealing with government.     

Reaping digital dividends: Digital inclusive finance and high-quality development of enterprises in China

The digital economy is progressively emerging as a new driving force for high-quality development in China and has been paving a new avenue for enterprise development through the progress of the digital inclusive finance (DIF) system. Under this paradigm of development, this research examines whether and how DIF exerts an influence on the China's economy which is currently experiencing a transition development of enterprises (HQDE). Using a sample of China's listed companies from 2011 to 2019, the results demonstrate that DIF has a significant favorable impact on HQDE. Furthermore, our analysis finds that reducing financial leverage and alleviating financial constraints are intermediary mechanisms of the effect. Moreover, the beneficial effect of DIF varies in terms of different regions, enterprise property rights, and industrial nature—it is observed to be more pronounced in the eastern region, non-state-owned enterprises, and tertiary industry enterprises. Our results provide empirical evidence that DIF enables enterprises to achieve high-quality development.     

应对国际金融危机中国建筑企业的机遇与挑战

金融危机的继续发展,其影响也越来越深入各个实体经济,资金量需求大的建筑业也难以避免,国际上资金的短缺和投资的急剧减少使得全球建筑企业资金链的维持变得困难。在世界经济中扮演越来越重要角色的中国在本次金融危机的大救亡当中起着举足轻重的作用,中国政府为保证经济稳定健康发展,推出大量政策直接或间接推动各种建筑项目的实施以带动经济发展和解决就业困难。我国建筑施工企业在这种“外冷内热”的大环境下面临危与机并存的局面。文章根据当前形势,对中国建筑施工企业面对的机遇与挑战进行分析,并提出应对策略。     

Technology policy for the knowledge economy: Public support to young ICT service firms

Public intervention in high-tech sectors is often advocated to resolve market imperfections that may possibly limit the viability of young high-tech enterprises. Although some European countries have adopted national government support policies that explicitly target this type of firm, in Italy and in other EU countries, there are no national support measures specifically designed for them. The paper focuses on the information and communication technologies (ICT) services sector in Italy. It aims to investigate whether both horizontal general-purpose direct support mechanisms at the national level and financial support measures provided by local administrative entities (which rarely have been specific to the ICT sector) permit an efficient allocation of public funds.     

How information and communication technology drives (routine and non-routine) jobs: Structural path and decomposition analysis for China

A comprehensive exploration into the routine/non-routine job implications of information and communication technology (ICT) is crucial for tackling routine-replacing technological change challenges in the digital era. To this end, we propose an integrated input-output (IO) analytical framework to detangle the intertwined relations between ICT and non-ICT sectors, and further incorporate structural path analysis (SPA) and structural decomposition analysis (SDA) to examine the extent to which and how ICT sub-sectors drive the formations and changes of embodied routine/non-routine jobs in ICT. An empirical study using China's national IO tables from World Input-Output Database and the matched occupational employment data derived from 2000 and 2010 Population Census is conducted. We find that China's ICT growth over 2000–2010 has not led to a decline in jobs, which still holds true for both ICT manufacturing and ICT service, as well as for routine/non-routine jobs. We also find an increase in the embodied employment share of non-routine relative to routine jobs. The typical paths “source sector → (intermediate sector) → ICT final demand” generate many routine/non-routine jobs, which are primarily lied in the zero and first rounds. The decomposition results show that the declining sectoral routine/non-routine job coefficients drives the decline of both ICT embodied routine and non-routine jobs (especially the former), which is completely offset by the rising final demand of ICT. The proposed integrated IO analytical framework could also be applied to other indicators and extended to multi-country/region analysis.