Technology Transmission Across National Innovation Systems: The Role of Danish Suppliers in Upgrading the Wind Energy Industry in China

This paper advances our understanding of how technology upgrading in the Chinese wind turbine industry is linked to internationalisation of Danish component suppliers. In order to grasp the interlinkages and implications hereof, the paper combines perspectives of global value chains (GVC), national innovation systems (NIS) and firm-level capabilities. The paper employs a qualitative methodology, drawing on explorative case studies of component suppliers and their links to lead firms in the wind turbine industry. The findings of the paper highlight the new pattern of upgrading by upstream linkages, i.e. linking up with global suppliers in the wind turbine global value chain, and the new role of component suppliers as technology transmitters across national innovation systems into emerging markets. Conceptually, the paper contributes to understanding how technological catching up in value chains links to the intersection between national innovation systems, a process driven by global value chain dynamics.