Technological capabilities in China. Patterns of specialization toward a knowledge-intensive economy

Technological development and innovation have long been a center of intensive research in economic and business studies (Fagerberg et al., 2010). There is an increasing unanimity in the literature on the role that technological development can play as the key factor for both economic growth and business competitiveness (Schumpeter, 1934; Pavitt, 1963; Freeman, 2004; Andries and Faems, 2013; Shubbak, 2018). Accordingly, growing empirical evidence highlights the vital role of accumulating domestic technological capabilities for developing economies in order to be able to absorb, adopt, and further develop advanced technologies (Mowery and Nelson, 2001; Malerba and Nelson, 2011; Shubbak, 2019). Successful catching-up processes in latecomer economies are usually accompanied by deep learning, knowledge accumulation, and technical change procedures (Lall, 1992; Ernst and Kim, 2002).