Tian Feng

Degree: PhD

Title: Australia-China technology collaboration: Opportunity, opportunism and knowledge sickness

Overview: Since 1983, China's economy has undergone rapid growth. According to preliminary estimations, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of China in 2003 was RMB 11,6694 trillion, up to 9.1 percent over the previous year (National Bureau of Statistics China, 2003). China's accession to World Trade Organisation (WTO) in November 2001 will have a substantial impact on competition throughout the Chinese market increasing the pressure on Chinese Firms to compete on the basing technology as well as low labour cost.

During transition to a more technology based economy Chinese companies are acquiring western technology in areas where they have recently lagged. Some of this technology transfer is from Australia, particularly in food, healthcare and mineral processing.

The research investigates the sale of Australian technology to China through licensing agreements, alliances, join-ventures and turnkey projects. Building on the work of Teece (1987, 2002), the research examines technology exchange using a transactions cost approach. In particular, it looks at the concept of absorptive capacity (Chen and Levential, 1990) as an explanation for successful technology transfer.

The study will use a sample of 120 Australian- Chinese technology collaborations. Through case studies and the extension of a survey instrument developed by Lowe and Talyor (1998), the research will then assess the impact of opportunism and " knowledge stickiness" on the strategic options adopted.

Principal Supervisor: Professor Julian Lowe

Associate Supervisor: Liu Gang

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