Firms of China in the Global Value Chains: Dynamic Innovation Pattern and Upgrading Stratagem

摘要

It is a widespread belief, especially among the literatures on global value chain (GVC), that the firms of China inserting GVC can take advantage of their late arrival to tap into update technologies, rather than have to be in to the path of reproducing the technologies. So they can accelerate their speed of upgrading; moreover they can engage in collective and purposive efforts to explore the relationships with leading firms in GVC to get the spillover of technology, and to create new competitiveness. Finally the latter can realize the upgrading in GVC. But the facts show different conclusions. Based on the firm-specific innovation behavior model of leading firm and latter firm, three kinds of innovation competitiveness pattern have been put forward, which results four kinds of innovation path of leading firms and latter firms, and then combing the innovation behavior with upgrading, we build the upgrading trajectory model of latter firms in China. But how to upgrade from the "locked-in" stage for the firms of China is a problem, so we put forward some stratagems on it. First, we should develop producer services. Lack of top-quality production elements, the firm of China can't upgrade. While the producer services can help to advance the production elements, based on this, latter firm can realize the upgrading. Then we may attract the top-quality production elements all over the world, and that's why we should promote the international flow of production elements, attracting top-quality human resources to join the firms of China, which will advance the innovation abilities soon. From the view of firms, by means of making full use of cheap labor cost and resources inland, firms can extend their production activities to the West of China and cultivate their own value chains, building some satellite plants, so the "Scale Economy" can be realized. Then enough capital can be accumulated, and the latter firms have enough money to input R&D, meanwhile they can attract international top-quality employees or cultivate their own employees in developed countries with the first-class R&D and marketing abilities.