Meso-level factors in technological transitions: The development of TD-SCDMA in China

• Published in: Research policy Vol. 45; no. 2; pp. 546 - 559
• Main Author: Zhang, Marina Yue
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.03.2016; Elsevier Sequoia S.A
• Subjects: 3G mobile networks; China; Government agencies; Interfaces; Meso-level factors; Multi-level perspective; Policy making; Studies; TD-SCDMA; Technological change; Technological transitions; Technology standards; Wireless networks; China; Meso-level factors; Multi-level perspective; Technological transitions; 3G mobile networks; China; TD-SCDMA
• ISSN: 0048-7333; 1873-7625
• DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2015.11.006

•An industry case exploring meso-level actors in China's transition to TD-SCDMA.•Policy making in technology subject to intervention of central authority in China.•Emphasizing the role of meso-level factors in MLP framework in sociotechnical transitions. This paper uses an industry case study of technological transition from second-generation (2G) to third-generation (3G) networks in China to unfold how meso-level factors drove the development of TD-SCDMA, China's home-born 3G standard. In this purposive transitional process, under the coordination of a central authority, multiple ‘regime actors’ (government agencies) engaged in bargaining, negotiation and consensus building that determined the developmental directions and outcome of TD-SCDMA. TD-SCDMA proved to be a political success but an economic failure. The policy implications are profound. In particular, as the ‘silo regulatory model’ of policy making which focuses on a single industry is gradually replaced by a collective model involving interindustry players, issues about how to manage the collective model pose a serious challenge to policy makers in China and other emerging countries. The paper provides evidence for the importance of meso-level factors in the multi level perspective (MLP) framework of sociotechnical transitions.