The Diffusion of Innovation in Low Income Countries

技术创新是发展中国家实现工业化和迎头赶上的一个关键因素。由于创新成本高、风险大、路径依赖，突破性创新高度集中在少数富裕国家和少数公司。外国技术来源在大多数国家的生产力增长中占很大一部分。如果外国技术易于传播和采用，技术落后的国家可以通过获得和更迅速地部署最先进的技术而迅速赶上（Eaton和Kortum，1995年; Bell和Pavitt，1993年）。因此，可以通过利用现有知识和专门技能来支持低收入国家的发展进程。因此，向低收入国家转让、采用和改造知识是经济增长和全球发展的一个重要问题。然而，技术的传播和采用既不是无成本的，也不是无条件的（Keller，2004年）。它依赖于大量和方向明确的技术努力（Lall，1992年）以及充足的人力和财力资源和吸收能力（Cohen和Levinthal，1989年）。这需要适当的机构和政策来激励和促进这一进程，还需要强大的地方能力来确定正确的技术和适当的转让机制，并根据当地的经济、社会、技术和环境条件吸收和调整（Fu等人，2011年）。现有的许多文献主要集中在发达国家或一般的发展中国家。我们对低收入国家的这些问题和关系的理解特别有限。本项目将创新定义为新产品或新工艺，或新的管理、组织或营销做法（“新”是指对世界来说是新的，或对国家或公司来说是新的），旨在填补知识空白，探索在体制、资源和负担能力制约下，低收入国家有效创新创造、传播和采用的决定因素和传播渠道。具体而言，其目的是：了解在体制、资源和承受能力方面的制约以及创新政策的空间下，低收入国家创新创造和传播所面临的障碍;分析低收入国家知识从领先创新者向后来者传播的决定因素，特别是大学-产业联系和公司间网络的作用;审查外部知识传播对低收入国家的影响，特别是南南贸易和外国直接投资对生产力的影响，特别关注中国在非洲的贸易和外国直接投资; -发展中小企业开放式创新网络模式，为低收入国家较贫穷的社会增加节俭创新。该研究与发展研究，技术和创新研究以及全球化和区域研究具有广泛的相关性。它将通过填补关于低收入国家创新和相关工业、贸易和科学技术政策的文献中的现有空白，为文献作出贡献。这将是第一批系统研究之一，旨在了解低收入国家在公司层面创新创造和传播的制约因素，并探索克服这些障碍的新的创新模式和政策。中小企业开放式创新网络框架的建立将有助于发展研究和创新研究的理论发展。该项目还将产生一系列严格的经验证据，填补文献中的重要空白。研究结果将对低收入国家的决策者和从业人员产生重要的政策和实际影响。该项目还将制作一个关于低收入国家创新传播情况的新的调查数据集，供更广泛的研究使用。政策报告和最佳做法指南将对当地和土著社区的决策者、企业管理人员、教育工作者和学生有用。

Technological innovation is a key element of industrialisation and catch-up in developing countries. Since innovation is costly, risky and path-dependent, groundbreaking innovation is highly concentrated in a few rich countries and amongst a small number of firms. Foreign sources of technology account for a large part of productivity growth in most countries. If foreign technologies are easy to diffuse and adopt, a technologically backward country can catch up rapidly through the acquisition and more rapid deployment of the most advanced technologies (Eaton and Kortum, 1995; Bell and Pavitt, 1993). Therefore, the development process in low income countries can be supported by tapping existing knowledge and know-how. The transfer, adoption and adaptation of knowledge to low income countries hence constitute an important issue for economic growth and global development. However, technology diffusion and adoption is neither costless nor unconditional (Keller, 2004). It relies on substantial and well-directed technological efforts (Lall, 1992) as well as sufficient human and financial resources and absorptive capacity (Cohen and Levinthal, 1989). It requires appropriate institutions and policies to incentivise and facilitate the process in addition to strong local capabilities to identify the right technology and appropriate transfer mechanism, and to absorb and make adaptations according to local economic, social, technical and environmental conditions (Fu, et al., 2011). Much of the existing literature focuses on developed countries or developing countries in general. Our understanding of these issues and relationships in the low income countries (LICs) specifically is limited. Defining innovation as a new product or process, or new management, organisational or marketing practices (where 'new' means new to the world or new to the country or the firm) this project aims to fill in the knowledge gap by exploring determinants and transmission channels for effective innovation creation, diffusion and adoption in LICs under institutional, resource and affordability constraints. In particular, it aims to:-Understand the barriers to innovation creation and diffusion in LICs under institutional, resource and affordability constraints and the space for innovation policy;-Analyse the determinants of knowledge diffusion in LICs from leading innovators to latecomers, in particular the role of university-industry linkage and inter-firm networks; -Examine the effect of external knowledge diffusion to LICs, in particular the productivity impact of South-South trade and FDI with a special focus on Chinese trade and FDI in Africa; -Develop an SME open innovation network model to increase frugal innovation for the poorer societies in LICs. The research has wide relevance to Development Studies, Technology and Innovation Studies and Globalisation and Area Studies. It will contribute to the literature by filling current gaps in the literature on innovation and relevant industrial, trade, and science and technology policies in LICs. It will be one of the first systematic studies to understand the constraints to innovation creation and diffusion at the firm level in LICs and explore new innovation models and policies to overcome these barriers. The SMEs open innovation network framework will contribute to theory development in Development Studies and Innovation Studies. The project will also produce a bundle of rigorous empirical evidence that fills important gaps in the literature. Findings from the research will have important policy and practical implications for policy makers and practitioners in LICs. The project will also produce a novel survey dataset on innovation diffusion in LICs which will be made available for wider research. The policy reports and best practice guidebooks will be useful to policy makers, business managers and educators and students in LICs.