Divide and conquer: industry market structure, inter-firm rivalry, and bargaining over technology

John Minnich

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: When do firms trade technology for market access? Theories of foreign investment typically frame host state bargaining power in terms of domestic characteristics like market size. This article examines how the structure of global markets in which firms are embedded and the inter-firm competition this generates shape firm-state bargaining over technology in ways not reducible to host state attributes. I argue that as the number of firms in an industry rises and global market shares become less evenly divided among them, weak market players face strong incentives to transfer technology in return for access to new markets. In this context, host states can “divide and conquer” investors to secure better terms of trade and investment. Case studies of technology transfer in commercial aircraft manufacturing and semiconductor design and fabrication in China show how industry market structure shapes firm-state bargaining over entry terms both across and within industries.

Keywords: technology transfer; market structure; foreign direct investment; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F3 G3 J01 R14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 13 pages
Date: 2026-09-30
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in International Studies Quarterly, 30, September, 2026, 70(3). ISSN: 1468-2478

Downloads: (external link)
https://researchonline.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/138366/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:138366

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library LSE Library Portugal Street London, WC2A 2HD, U.K.. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by LSERO Manager ().