Scientific knowledge production in China: a comparative analysis

Chi Mai Nguyen and Jae-Yong Choung ()
Additional contact information
Chi Mai Nguyen: KAIST Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
Jae-Yong Choung: KAIST Advanced Institute of Science and Technology

Scientometrics, 2020, vol. 124, issue 2, No 23, 1279-1303

Abstract: Abstract Over the past few decades, the rising economic power of China has led to the expansion of its indigenous science and technology capacity. However, the key characteristics and patterns of the Chinese catch-up process have been mainly explained based on patenting activities that only reflect the progress of technological capabilities accumulation. Therefore, this paper seeks to expand the conventional understanding of China’s technological upgrading based on the flying geese model by analyzing scientific knowledge production using hierarchical cluster analysis and examination of the similarities and differences between Chinese and latecomers’ scientific patterns. The results show that China has reached the same level of scientific publication capacity as Japan and Korea since 2006, and has recently overtaken Japan to become the biggest scientific powerhouse in the Asia Pacific region. Additionally, during the catch-up period, China’s scientific portfolio demonstrates a combination of features that resemble both Korean and Taiwanese attributes. These findings partially contradict the traditional flying geese model and point out additional interpretations of the convergence and divergence of developmental paths among advanced countries and less developed nations. The study contributes to the theory of technological dominance in East Asia and to the understanding of China’s dominant role in knowledge production worldwide. Several implications and directions for future research regarding scientific advancement in emerging economies are discussed.

Keywords: Knowledge production; China; Bibliometric analysis; Cluster; Specialization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-020-03507-4 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:spr:scient:v:124:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-020-03507-4

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11192

DOI: 10.1007/s11192-020-03507-4

Access Statistics for this article

Scientometrics is currently edited by Wolfgang Glänzel

More articles in Scientometrics from Springer, Akadémiai Kiadó
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().