Innovation and international technology transfer: The case of the Chinese photovoltaic industry

Arnaud de La Tour, Matthieu Glachant and Yann Ménière ()
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Arnaud de La Tour: CERNA i3 - Centre d'économie industrielle i3 - Mines Paris - PSL (École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris) - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Abstract: China is the largest solar photovoltaic cell producer in the world, with more than one third of worldwide production in 2008, exporting more than 95 percent of what it produces. The purpose of this paper is to understand the drivers of this success and its limits, with a particular emphasis on the role of technology transfers and innovation. Our analysis combines a review of international patent data at a detailed technology level with field interviews of ten Chinese PV companies. We show that Chinese producers have acquired the technologies and skills necessary to produce PV products through two main channels: the purchasing of manufacturing equipment in a competitive international market and the recruitment of skilled executives from the Chinese diaspora who built pioneer PV firms. The success of these firms in their market is, however, not reflected in their performance in terms of innovation. Rather, patent data rather highlight a policy-driven effort to catch up in critical technological areas.

Keywords: Solar photovoltaic energy; technology diffusion; technology transfer; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://minesparis-psl.hal.science/hal-00498578v1
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Published in Energy Policy, 2011, 39 (2), pp.761-770. ⟨10.1016/j.enpol.2010.10.050⟩

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Journal Article: Innovation and international technology transfer: The case of the Chinese photovoltaic industry (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00498578

DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2010.10.050

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