Aligning internal and external networks: Taiwan's specialization
in IT
Seok-Ran Kim and Nick von Tunzelmann
Abstract
This paper combines the approaches of political governance scholars
and the national systems of innovation perspectives, to reassess
the emergence of Taiwan's successful IT hardware industry. Reductionist
views of seeing this as the result of either the pull of free market
forces or the push of the state are rejected. The alternative of
emphasising the role of governance through networks is accepted,
but we stress the multiplicity of networks: global, national and
local. The key to success is then seen as the stronger alignment
among these various networks. Markets, firms and the state all played
their part in this intensified alignment. The role of the state,
which was particularly important in linking demand networks to supply
ones, is seen as operating through indirect rather than direct links
to firms and markets, and especially by encouraging human capital
formation and spin-offs of people. In theoretical terms, we conclude
there is an need to link political and evolutionary approaches.
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This paper is currently © S Kim and N von Tunzelmann
1998
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