Pengfei Chang

Supervisors: Prof. Slavo Radosevic and Dr. Randolph Bruno

Present status: Mphil Candidate

Working title of thesis: Technology upgrading and growth in state permeated and dependent market economies: A comparative analysis of FDI in Chinese and Central Eastern European automotive industries

Research: My research aims to study the FDI spillovers, technology upgrading, and industry growth in both Chinese and Central Eastern European automotive industries from a comparative perspective. Many previous studies investigated spillover effects by detecting whether there are positive or negative spillovers, but they did not try to explain the mechanism of spillovers. Based on agent-based modelling, my study may discover the black box inside FDI spillovers. My study also wants to assess the performance and prospects of Chinese domestic auto firms in acquiring indigenous innovative capabilities to overcome the middle-income trap and eventually accomplish technological catch-up based on the neo-Schumpeterian framework. Moreover, by comparing automotive industries in both China (State permeated economic), and Central Eastern European countries (Dependent market economic), this study can make contribution on explaining the relationship between different modes of development and their effects on enhancing innovative and technological capability that are essential for technology upgrade and catch-up.

Research interest: FDI spillover, innovation policy, technology catch-up, automotive industry

Research Centre Affiliation: UCL Centre for Comparative Studies of Emerging Economies