技术权威与数字时代的国际技术竞争

在国际技术竞争中,技术权威既非构建于利益交换关系之上,又不依靠强制胁迫的方式来维系,而是通过锁定技术发展轨道与治理规则路径赢得其他国家的自愿追随,由此形成非对称服从关系。技术权威可划分为知识型、监管型、辐射型与借力型四种类型,不同技术权威类型之间可通过技术跃迁与市场规模拓展来实现转换。在移动通信技术领域,拥有不同技术权威类型的国家分别通过实体路径、市场路径、制度路径与联盟路径参与国际技术竞争,借助技术领域中的锁定效应巩固其在国际技术竞争中的优势地位,直至出现颠覆性技术的突破。

Technological Authority and International Technological Competition in the Digital Era: A Case Study of Mobile Communication Technology

In the research studies of international technological competition, the perspective of power competition has failed to provide a comprehensive analytical framework that takes into consideration the unique characteristics of technological development. The introduction of the concept of authority into the technology domain aims to create a framework where technological authority is not built upon relationships of interest exchange or maintained through coercive means. Instead, it is achieved by defining the trajectory of technological development and by establishing governance rules to win the voluntary following of other countries, thus creating an asymmetric relationship of compliance. Technological authority can be classified into four types: knowledge-based technological authority, regulation-based technological authority, institution-based technological authority, and leverage-based technological authority. These four types can be interconverted through technological leaps and market expansion. The abundance of technological resources and the initial market size are used as independent variables to analyze different types of technological authority and the path selection tool of countries in international technological competition. In the field of mobile communication technology, countries with different types of technological authority participate in international technological competition through physical paths, market paths, institutional paths, and alliance paths. They leverage the lock-in effect in the technological field to consolidate their dominant positions in international technological competition until the emergence of disruptive technological breakthroughs.