Unpacking transnational industry legitimacy dynamics, windows of opportunity, and latecomers’ catch-up in complex product systems
通过分析韩国核电产业案例，提出先行者产业合法性的变化与后来者内化机会窗口的努力相结合，能使后来者从交钥匙进口商转变为全球出口商。
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.