新刊推荐 | JCEBS Vol 19 Issue 4，2021

Vol 19 Issue 4，2021

本文简要回顾了现有的关于中国和非洲之间知识传递的文献，阐明了本期特刊的目的、方法和主要结论。为了调查中国FDI项目对非洲技术学习的影响，SAIS-CARI的研究团队在六个非洲国家进行了实地研究。这是第一篇对中非知识转移进行全面分析的文章。作者发现，对农业和制造业方面的投资大部分来自于私有中小型公司，这些公司受市场因素驱动，而不是受中国政府影响。这项研究表明，中国在非洲的投资为雇佣和培训当地员工做出了贡献，带去了先进的技术，并与当地企业合作；然而，知识转移的有效性和可持续性在不同的部门和国家有所不同。

文章链接：

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14765284.2021.1996191

本文研究了中国在两个东非国家投资的发展轨迹及其对技术传递的影响。文章追溯了自非洲独立以来中国与非洲间经济活动的交往。除了少数在1970年代由援助驱动的投资和1990年代第一波中国外籍企业家到东非的投资，大多数中国投资都是在过去十年间进行的。近年来的投资集中在建筑行业、出口导向的服装业、塑料回收和再加工行业以及农业。在技术传递方面，本文识别到了当地培训工作的行业内溢出效应。中国的大型投资或发展项目已经建立了正式的培训计划以及明确的本地化目标，并且更有可能与政府机构或职业培训机构合作。此外，横纵向的外溢效应还体现在分包业务、本地供应、分销网络的发展以及本地企业的模仿上。然而，由于当地投资者的资金和技术能力有限，这些行业层面的外溢效应并没有那么系统化。

文章链接：

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14765284.2021.1966733

本文研究了中国企业在赞比亚和马拉维棉花部门的运作，重点关注了知识传递的方式和效果。作为该领域的新参与者，中国投资者采用的商业模式和管理方式与之前在该地区的外国投资者不同。低成本和低风险的方法帮助他们在这两个国家迅速成长，并从成熟的西方投资者手中夺取了相当大的市场份额。通过深入的案例研究和与西方公司的比较，作者发现中国投资者灵活地修改传统的知识传播渠道，如通过劳动力培训、示范、前向后向联系，以适应他们的商业模式和当地的社会经济背景。同时，他们利用中国在制造业方面的优势，尝试在工业部门进行协同发展，以克服对增长的限制。

文章链接：

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14765284.2021.1943734

由于中国工资上涨和国内竞争促使企业“ 走出去”，马达加斯加凭借其地理位置、早期存在的大量华侨、低廉的劳动力成本以及丰富的耕地和自然资源，成为过去 20 年中国对外投资的一个极具吸引力的目的地，尤其是在农业、制造业和采矿业。中国在外国投资的帮助下创造了自己的经济繁荣，那么中国投资者是否可以通过技能培训和技术升级在其他低收入国家发挥类似的作用呢？本文以农业和制造业为研究对象，发现中国公司为马达加斯加带来了有限技能和技术传递。然而，中国在马达加斯加的投资范围仍然有限，且面临政策环境问题的挑战。

文章链接：

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14765284.2021.1940452

尼日利亚一直是中国在非洲的外国直接投资（FDI）的主要目的地之一，制造业集群不断涌现。外国直接投资对技术传递有积极意义，可以促进更广泛工业化和结构转型，但是其作用取决于可以促进积极溢出的地方间联系。通过实地调查和结构化调查方法，本文研究了中国对尼日利亚对外投资的驱动因素，特别关注 2014 年至 2017 年期间，强调了可能催化转型过程的技术转让的联系和机制，并判断了其潜力。文章发现，虽然存在技术和技能传递的案例，但投资公司面临着基础设施薄弱、缺乏技能和社会信任度低的问题，阻碍了联系和产业供应链的发展。在 2014 年经济衰退之后，公司将政治和汇率不稳定视为挑战；更大程度的本地化和建立本地联系可以使公司更好地迎接这些挑战。

文章链接：

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14765284.2021.1943184

华为在非洲建立了多个培训中心。本研究确定了肯尼亚和尼日利亚培训中心的目标，并根据其目标提供了有关其成功的原始数据。实地调查于 2018 年进行，后续电话采访一直持续到 2021 年。本文发现华为的投资没有为知识传递提供重大机会，并没有促进肯尼亚或尼日利亚电信行业的技术或产业升级。虽然部分阻力来自是东道国内的障碍，但是，与在该地区运营的其他国际设备供应商一样，知识转移也受到华为有限的投资范围以及其与当地员工分享知识意愿的阻碍。本文得出的结论是：肯尼亚和尼日利亚政府可能低估了他们对国际设备供应商的影响，从而限制了许多本应促进知识传递的机会。

文章链接：

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14765284.2021.1943194

#1 Yoon Jung Park &Xiaoyang Tang

Chinese FDI and impacts on technology transfer, linkages, and learning in Africa: evidence from the field

Based on a brief review of the existing literature on knowledge transfer between Chinese and Africans, this introductory essay sheds light on the purpose, methodologies, and main findings of this special issue. Aiming to investigate the impacts of Chinese FDI projects on technology learning in Africa, a team of SAIS-CARI researchers conducted field research in six African countries. To our knowledge, this is the first time such a comprehensive analysis on China-Africa knowledge transfer has been carried out. Our research finds that the majority of investments in agricultural and manufacturing comes from private small-to-medium sized companies that are driven by market factors and operate outside the Chinese government. The research suggests that Chinese investments in Africa have contributed to hiring and training local employees, demonstrated advanced technologies, and cooperated with local enterprises; however,  the effectiveness and sustainability of the knowledge transfer varies across different sectors and countries.

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#2 Ying Xia

Chinese investment in East Africa: History, status, and impacts 

This paper investigates the development trajectory of Chinese investments in two East African countries and their implications for technology transfer. It traces the transformation of Chinese economic engagements with Africa since the early independence era. Most Chinese investments were established in the past decade, except for a few aid-driven investments created in the 1970s and those made by the first wave of Chinese expatriate entrepreneurs to East Africa in the 1990s. These recent investments have concentrated in construction-related industries, export-oriented garments industry, plastic recycling and reprocessing, and agro-business. In terms of technology transfer, there are local training efforts and signs for intra-industry spillovers. Large-scale Chinese investments or development projects have established formal training programs with explicit localization targets and are more likely to collaborate with government agencies or vocational training institutes. Moreover, horizontal and vertical spillovers have also taken the form of the development of sub-contracting, local supply, distribution networks, and imitation by local firms. Nevertheless, those industry-level spillovers are less systematic due to the limitations of local investors’ financial and technological capacity.

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#3 Xiaoyang Tang

Adaptation, innovation, and industrialization: the impact of Chinese investments on skill development in the Zambian and Malawian cotton sectors

This paper examines Chinese firms’ operations in the Zambian and Malawian cotton sectors with emphasis on the manner and effects of knowledge transfer. As new players in the arena, Chinese investors have adopted business models and management styles that differ from those of previous foreign investors in the region. Their low-cost and low-risk approaches have helped them grow quickly in these two countries and seize considerable market share from the established Western investors. Through an in-depth case study and comparison with Western companies, the author reveals that the Chinese investors flexibly modify conventional knowledge transfer channels like labor training, demonstration, and forward and backward linkages to fit their business models and local socio-economic contexts. Simultaneously, they take advantage of China’s strength in manufacturing and experiment with synergistic development in the industrial sector to overcome growth constraints.

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#4 David Landry & Yunnan Chen

Can Chinese investment lead to knowledge and technology transfers? The case of Madagascar

Madagascar’s geographic location, large long-established Chinese diaspora, low labor costs, and abundant arable land and natural resources have made it an attractive destination for Chinese outward investment over the past two decades, as rising wages in China and domestic competition drove firms to ‘go out.’ Chinese investors have been particularly active in the Malagasy agricultural, manufacturing, and mining sectors. China generated its own economic boom with the help of foreign investment, which raised the question whether Chinese investors could play a similar role – through the fostering of skills and technology upgrading – in other low-income countries. Focusing on agriculture and manufacturing, this paper uncovers some evidence of limited skills and technology transfers occurring through Chinese firms operating in Madagascar. However, Chinese investment in Madagascar remains limited in scope and has been challenged by a problematic policy environment.

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#5 Yunnan Chen

‘Africa’s China’: Chinese manufacturing investment in Nigeria and channels for technology transfer

Nigeria has been one of the primary destinations for Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa, with emerging clusters in manufacturing sectors. FDI holds potential for technology transfer processes that can foster wider industrialization and structural transformation, but this depends on the development of local linkages that can foster positive spillovers. Through fieldwork and structured survey methods, this paper examines drivers of Chinese outward investment in Nigeria, particularly from 2014 to 2017, highlighting linkages and mechanisms of technology transfer that may catalyze transformation processes and taking a critical view of their potential. I find that, while cases of technology and skills transfer exist, investing firms face challenges of poor infrastructure, lack of skills, and low social trust, which hinder the development of linkages and industrial supply chains. In the wake of the 2014 economic recession, firms cited political and exchange rate instability as challenging; however, greater localization and building local linkages make firms better prepared to weather such challenges.

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#6 Henry Tugendhat

Connection issues: a study on the limitations of knowledge transfer in Huawei’s African training centres

Huawei has built several training centres across Africa. This study establishes the purpose of these centres in Kenya and Nigeria and presents original data on their success based on their objectives. Fieldwork was conducted in 2018 and follow-up interviews continued by phone until 2021. I find that Huawei’s investments offer no significant opportunities for knowledge transfers that could foster technological or industrial upgrading in Kenya or Nigeria’s telecommunications sectors. In part, this is due to domestic obstacles in the host countries. But, like other international equipment vendors operating in the region, knowledge transfers are also hindered by the limited scope of Huawei’s investments and the boundaries on the knowledge it is willing to share with domestic employees. I conclude that Kenya and Nigeria’s governments may underestimate the leverage they have over international equipment vendors to induce more meaningful opportunities for knowledge transfer.