Abstract
This chapter analyzes the determinants of innovation and firm performance resulting from collaborative learning in the South African and Malaysian computer sectors, which consists of firms specializing in software and hardware. These analyses focus on two main propositions. The first is to examine the well-established notion that the microeconomic processes of interactive learning lead to innovation even in the context of a latecomer economy. The second proposition is that firms in a latecomer economy require state support to produce and innovate because markets do not function well. In such contexts, policy choices made are instrumental in explaining the success/failure of sectors. This chapter uses the empirical data collected in South Africa and Malaysia to illustrate the interlinkages between state policy, technological capabilities (TCs), and interactive learning. Sections 2 and 3 present the results of the innovation surveys in the South African and Malaysian computer sectors, respectively. The empirical analysis focuses specifically on factors that impact upon new product development in the sector, and a discussion of the actors and triggers for innovation. This chapter then discusses the comparative insights on learning and collaborative behavior as well as state support in the concluding section.
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Notes
- 1.
Nelson and Winter (1982) developed the notion of “routines.” Bell (1984), Scott-Kemmis and Bell (1988), and Katz (1987) used “technological capacity” to describe the learning processes involved in building up a minimum base of essential knowledge to engage in innovative activity.
- 2.
Dahlman et al. (1987) conceived TC as the ways to use existing technology to produce more efficiently and to use the experience gained in production and investment to adapt and improve the technology in use.
- 3.
Linkage capabilities are defined as the forging of cooperation between workers, managers, and the broader set of actors making up the milieu of the firm.
- 4.
The data collection was carried out by Prof. Rajah Rasiah for one of the authors’ projects. A more elaborate discussion of the issue is found in Oyelaran-Oyeyinka and Rasiah (2008).
- 5.
We always report estimation results that include only the joint significant explanatory variables.
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© 2015 Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER)
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Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, B. (2015). Innovation Systems in Latecomer Development Sectoral Evidence from South Africa and Malaysia. In: Shome, P., Sharma, P. (eds) Emerging Economies. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2101-2_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2101-2_16
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