Unpacking transnational industry legitimacy dynamics, windows of opportunity, and latecomers’ catch-up in complex product systems

Kiho Kwak, Hyungseok (David) Yoon*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This paper posits that the combination of changes in a forerunner's industry legitimacy and a latecomer's efforts to endogenise windows of opportunity allows the latecomer to evolve from a turnkey importer to a global exporter. Our theoretical assertions are supported by analysing Korea as a latecomer in the nuclear power industry. We show that both an increase and a decrease in a forerunner's industry legitimacy provides exogenous windows of opportunity for the latecomer to access a forerunner's knowledge base. In particular, the decrease in a forerunner's industry legitimacy provides a critical opportunity for the latecomer to acquire core technology. In addition, our analysis shows some interesting findings on the latecomer's endogenisation of windows of opportunity through the lens of technological innovation systems. This study advances a more fine-grained view on catch-up theory by shedding new light on the implications of transnational industry legitimacy dynamics and windows of opportunity for a latecomer's catch-up in complex product systems.

Original languageEnglish
Article number103954
JournalResearch policy
Volume49
Issue number4
Early online date14 Mar 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors

Keywords

  • Catch-up
  • Complex product systems
  • Industry legitimacy
  • Nuclear power industry
  • Technological innovation systems
  • Windows of opportunity

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