Regional technology development path in an open developing economy: evidence from China

This article explores the paths of regional technology development in a large open developing economy. Findings from the research based on Chinese data suggest a differentiated approach to regional technology development. In technologically advanced regions, indigenous R&D plays a more important role than learning-by-doing while in backward regions the latter becomes more important. Interregional technology transfer is found to have a more significant impact on regional technology development than Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and its effect intensifies when the technology level of the recipient region is close to the technological frontier. R&D plays a key role in both the assimilation of foreign technologies in advanced regions and the assimilation of interregional technology transfer; learning-by-doing only affects the latter.