Deepening or delinking? Innovative capacity and global value chain participation in the IT industry
通过分析45个国家在IT硬件和软件两个子行业的创新能力与全球价值链参与，发现两者关联仅在少数国家的软件子行业成立，揭示了不同行业和国家的差异化创新路径。
Abstract Innovation trajectories in global value chains (GVCs) can take differentiated pathways. In this article, we address the question: do stylized trajectories emerge from the analysis of countries’ relative innovative capacity (IC) and GVC participation? We draw explorative insights from a cluster analysis of 45 countries on the two subsectors of the information technology industry: hardware and software. Our analysis uncovers remarkable differences between hardware and software and across countries. We identify different trajectories and discuss the sectoral specificities that contribute explaining their existence. The association between the strengthening of IC and a deeper insertion in GVCs applies only to a handful of countries and only in the software subsector. The specificity of this association raises questions for future research on innovation trajectories in GVCs.