New Technology Development in Emerging Economies: An Examination of the Antecedents of International Patenting Activities of Emerging Economies

This dissertation investigates the phenomenon of new technology development in emerging economies (EEs). I do this by studying the international patenting activities of EEs at the country level and firm level. In order to do this, I develop and analyze a panel database of patents filed with the United States Patents and Trademarks Office (USPTO). I then examine differences in the nature of technologies that are being patented by emerging economies in comparison to developed economies (DEs). Through this dissertation, I develop a key construct that pertains to the nature of technologies that are patented. This construct is named novelty of technology knowledge and it pertains to the age of technological knowledge that organizations draw from and build upon while developing new innovations. The first research question I examine is what is the impact of global connectedness and institutional development in EEs on the age of technology knowledge that they build on. I build on insights from the institutional theory and argue that the absence of well-developed institutions presents constraints to the development and protection of novel technology innovations. On the other hand, global connectedness in the form of trade linkages provides opportunities for engaging in novel technology innovations. I hypothesize that a country's level of global connectedness and institutional development have a positive relation with the novelty of its technology knowledge. I use data on the international patenting activities of 48 countries with the USPTO over a period of 9 years. I use panel data estimation models to test the hypotheses. I find that global connectedness is positively related to the level of a country's international patenting. The second research question is what is the impact of the level of internationalization of EE firms on the age of technology knowledge that they build on. I first identify the benefits and costs associated with internationalization for EE firms as a result of the conditions in their home country. I then argue that with increasing internationalization, the counter forces of exploration and exploitation thrust firms' technology development from initially focusing on newer technology bases towards focusing on older technologies. I hypothesize the existence of a U-shaped relationship between the level of internationalization and the novelty of technology knowledge and test my hypotheses using a panel of bio-pharmaceutical firms from India. The findings from this dissertation make important contributions to the literature examining innovation and new technology development in the context of EEs.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph. D.

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Business, Management

Department dc:contributor.department

Management

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2017

Author dc:creator

• Samant, Shantala Sharad

Chairs dc:contributor.committeechair

• Hatfield, Donald E.
• Thakur Wernz, Pooja

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Cantwell, John
• Seth, Anju

• Emerging Economies
• Technology
• Patenting
• Innovation

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:9641

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/78620