Doctoral Dissertation Research: Imitation versus Innovation: The Case of Mobile Phone Design and Manufacturing

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This project will study knock-off electronics focusing on the case of mobile telephones. Using ethnographic methods the PI will study Chinese entrepreneurs and artists who specialize in the practice of copying and improving upon cellphone technology and design. He will situate this study in terms of the Chinese concept of learned mastery which embraces practices of imitation as route to creativity. The research will result in a dissertation and scholarly articles. A fuller understanding of the practice should be of interest to US corporations and policy makers, as well as scholars in a number of fields