| In recent years, as people questioned "market for technology" strategy, China’s high-tech industry has paid more attention to strengthening the technical cooperation between local enterprises and foreign-funded enterprises in technology transfer. The efforts to enhance the technical efficiency of local enterprises are also reflected in the promotion of technology transfer and cooperative innovation among enterprises, universities and scientific research institutions. After the financial crisis, export-oriented high-tech industry has suffered a blow, high-tech enterprises have transferred their processing and manufacturing sectors from coastal areas to the mainland or other countries due to increasing competition and rising cost. At the same time, much of high-tech enterprises shift their processing and manufacturing sectors that causes severe pollution to central and western regions, which has raised concerns that these areas may become "Pollution Haven". Therefore, this paper explores the relationship between technology transfer and technical efficiency of high-tech industry in the new situation from the perspective of sustainable development, so as to provide a reference for high-tech industry to develop technology transfer policies and construct technology innovation systems according to local conditions.Most studies analyzed the relationship between technology transfer and technical efficiency in an isolated way, and they seldom considered of the influencing factors such as the heterogeneity of absorptive capacity, industry difference and environmental factors. In view of this, this paper analyzes the roles of technology transfer in improving the efficiency of industrial technology from the following aspects:(1) This paper explores the impacts of technology transfer on efficiency improvement in high-tech industry by using stochastic frontier production function, and examines the interaction between technology transfer and indigenous R&D and its effect on technical efficiency.(2) This paper uses data envelopment analysis to measure Malmquist productivity indices in high-tech industry, and explores the impacts of technology transfer on productivity growth by using first difference method. It also examines the interaction between technology imports and R&D investment and its effect on spatial difference of productivity growth.(3) This paper uses a directional distance function to measure environmental efficiency in China’s high-tech industry, and constructs a system framework to examine the influence factors of environmental efficiency in an open economy. Then, the slacks-based measurement model with undesirable output is applied to measure the environmental efficiency of provinces in China’s high-tech industry from2000to2011. Then, the impacts of technology transfer on environmental efficiency can be empirically examined by the system GMM method.(4) Case study is used to explore the impacts of technology transfer on efficiency improvement in high-tech industry from the enterprise level, so as to provide a systematic research on how to achieve effective technology transfer for high-tech enterprises.The results show that:(1) Foreign technology import and FDI positively and significantly affected technical efficiency, but domestic technology acquisition has no significant influence on technical efficiency. Moreover, technology imports have both substitute effect to indigenous R&D and indirect technology spillover effect to technical efficiency. However, FDI has complementary effect on indigenous R&D to improve technical efficiency. Finally, the results show that technical efficiency in high-tech industry varies substantially across different regions, and the eastern region has higher technical efficiency than the central and western regions. There is plenty of room for technical efficiency improvement in high-tech industry.(2) The contribution of foreign technology import to technical progress is weakening, yet the effect of domestic technology acquisition on efficiency improvement is on the increase. Moreover, foreign technology import has complementary effect on R&D investment especially in the east, and domestic technology acquisition has the same effect especially in the central and western regions. In contrast, FDI has a positive effect on technical efficiency, but it suppresses R&D investment and productivity growth especially in the east.(3) Environmental efficiency of high-tech industry presents a downward trend during the period2000-2011, with the eastern regions being lowest, followed by the western regions, the central regions highest. Foreign technology import, FDI and human capital positively and significantly affect environmental efficiency, but domestic technology acquisition and ownership have no significant influence on environmental efficiency.(4) It demonstrates the low value of the environmental efficiency of each province with a downward trend. Domestic technology acquisition positively and significantly affects environmental efficiency, but the effect of foreign technology import and FDI on environmental efficiency varies at different times. Both of them have significant positive spillover effect on environmental efficiency during its previous period, however, the spillover effect has diminished over time. Therefore the effect of the international technological transfer should not be overstated, and promoting domestic technology acquisition will be more helpful for efficiency improvement in high-tech industry.(5) Effective technology transfer requests that corresponding transfer context be constructed by the recipient, and more attention be paid to all staff involved in technology improvement to meet market requirements. The recipient also needs to partner with universities and scientific research institutions to improve technical level and absorptive capacity meanwhile increasing R&D investment.With the manufacturing sector of the high-tech industry transferring from the eastern region to the central and western regions, the development of high-tech industry in the eastern region will rely more on the research and development design and sales network of products, so decision-makers need to promote the high-tech enterprises with technical advantages to cooperate with multinational companies in research and development, and achieve "embedded innovation" in the process of introducing technology, and provide these enterprises with government procurement as well as research and development subsidies so as to encourage them to increase the investment in research and development, and highlight technical cooperation and thus enhance the dominance of local enterprises when attracting foreign investment. The central and western regions should introduce appropriate technology in combination with the local industrial base and the status of technological capabilities of enterprises in the process of undertaking the transfer of high-tech industry, and give full play to the late-development advantages by means of referring to foreign investment policies and production management experience of the eastern regions, and thus gradually accumulate technical capabilities as well as research and development capabilities. In the process of introducing cutting-edge technology for enterprises from universities and scientific research institutions, decision-makers should focus on improving the institutional environment for technology transfer and achievement transformation. |
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