Understanding Innovation and Learning in Emerging Countries

The technological advancement in high tech manufacturing industries in developed countries have shifted the locus of low tech production activities from advanced countries to developing countries. This shift of global activities has increased pressure on the firms in developing countries to improve their knowledge, capabilities and skills. By interacting with the global players, local firms can learn a great deal of knowledge and skills. In order to understand the learning and innovation by local firms in emerging countries, and to investigate how do local firms learn from the global players?, Global Value Chain (GVC) theory and System of Innovation (SI) approach provides very useful frameworks. Based on qualitative design and in depth interviews, this book provides a case study of local manufacturing firms in textile sector in Pakistan and investigates empirically their learning and upgrading process. It combines the GVC and IS frameworks and finds that, although global buyers play very important role, nevertheless firms internal efforts, and role of machinery and material suppliers play equally important role in knowledge diffusion and learning process of local firms.