Research on a Case of Technology Transfer Between France and China

Abstract

Traditional technology transfer projects are based on the assumption that they can provide direct economic and social development for the receiving countries. In social sciences, this approach is called “technology determinism”: it states that technologies have a decisive effect on societies and that their innovation and use are independent from any social influences. This belief underestimates the weight of society with regards to technologies, its social shaping (Bijker and Law, 1992), and has been the cause of the failure of many technology transfer projects. To what extent, transferred technologies have to be modified to be adopted in a specific developing country? What are their effects on local cultures? The aim of this article is to build an analytical model to understand the role of technological objects in the process of transfers related to development issues, with a special focus on information and communication technologies (ICT). To answer these questions, we studied a case of technology transfer: the sale of a truck engine patent between a French manufacturer (Renault Trucks) and its Chinese partner Dongfeng Limited.