How to Understand the Indicator of External Technology Dependence

Gao Changlin (China Research Center for the Promotion of Science and Technology: Beijing) The concept of external dependence comes from the measurement of international trade, which indicates the degree of dependence on imports for the consumption of a certain product in a country. External technology dependence is an indicator reflecting a country's dependence on technology introduction. China's medium- and long-term science and technology development planning and strategic research on the calculation of the country's external technology dependence on the formula is: technology dependence (%) = technology imported funds / (R&D funds + technology imported funds) [①]. Generally speaking, a country's foreign technology dependence is higher, indicating that the country's dependence on foreign technology is stronger; on the contrary, a lower degree of technology dependence indicates that the country's independent innovation component is larger. However, the external technology dependence index cannot be absolutized and simplified. The so-called can't be absolute means can't see the low degree of foreign technology dependence on the independent innovation ability; the so-called can't be simplified means can't only use the degree of foreign technology dependence on an indicator to determine the level of independent innovation ability. First, why can't it be absolutized? Measuring the degree of external technology dependence can't be separated from the understanding of technology. According to the manifestation of technology, technology can be divided into explicit technology and implicit technology. Explicit technology (Disembodied Technology), also known as non-physical technology or "soft technology", refers to the technology has an independent form, the transfer can be carried out separately, such as the transfer of patents and technology licensing, technology consulting and so on. Embodied Technology, or materialized technology, is the technology carrier of intermediate products, capital goods or human beings. Embodied technology is implicit in commodities (which can be called "hard technology"), or exists in the human brain (i.e., "intangible technology" in the form of knowledge), and the flow of embodied technology happens along with the trade in commodities and the movement of people. International statistics on the international technology balance of payments are actually statistics on the market transactions of soft technologies, while hidden technologies cannot be directly counted because of the difficulty of calculating the value of technologies in commodities. As a result, none of the currently stated degrees of external technological dependence include dependence on technology in imported capital goods (production equipment) and intermediate goods (materials and components). Therefore, the index of external technological dependence calculated with the current statistical data does not fully reflect the real situation of external technological dependence, and the problem needs to be solved with the gradual improvement of the statistical system and calculation method. For example, if a certain technologically backward country introduces less soft technology and relies more on foreign capital goods and intermediate goods, the degree of external technology dependence calculated by the formula may be very low, but it does not indicate that its technological autonomy and self-sufficiency rate are high. Is it that the indicator of external technology dependence can not be used at all? Not at all. Excluding those countries mentioned above, which have less funding for technology introduction and are at a lower level of economic development, the indicator of technology dependence can reflect the external technology dependence of the world's major economies. For example, we have accordingly calculated that the external technology dependence of most developed countries is below 30%, and that of the United States and Japan is below 10%. The United States and Japan, as the world's most technologically advanced countries, both of which account for as much as 52% of the world's share of R&D investment, naturally have a lower degree of dependence on foreign technology. Second, why can not simplify a country and industry's technological innovation capacity can not only look at the degree of dependence on foreign technology an indicator, but also consider other indicators such as R & amp; D intensity. Medium and long term science and technology planning program in the proposed foreign technology dependence to 30% or less at the same time also put forward will be the ratio of R & D expenditure to GDP to more than 2.5% of the target. Generally speaking, a low degree of dependence on foreign technology and high R&D intensity indicates that the country has a high independent innovation capability; a high degree of dependence on foreign technology and high R&D intensity indicates that the country carries out high-intensity R&D on the basis of a large number of technology imports, and that the country has a high degree of technology learning; a low degree of dependence on foreign technology and low R&D intensity indicates that the country has low R&D capability, and at the same time cannot obtain advanced foreign technology; a high degree of dependence on foreign technology and low R&D intensity indicates that the country has low R&D capability, and at the same time cannot obtain advanced foreign technology; and A high degree of foreign technology dependence and low R&D intensity indicates that the industry has low independent innovation ability and high dependence on external technology. Table 1 Analysis table of technological autonomy rate High R&D intensity High R&D intensity Low technological autonomy rate (low dependence on foreign technology) High independent innovation ability (IV) Low R&D ability and low introduction of technology (I) Low technological autonomy rate (high dependence on foreign technology) Improvement of technological learning ability (III) Low R&D ability and large amount of introduction of foreign technology (II) In terms of China's development history, it basically will also go through the process of development from I-II-III-IV, and will also go through the process of development from I-II-III-IV. -II-III-IV four stages of development. Before reform and opening up, China was in stage I, with low R&D intensity and low foreign technology dependence. Since the reform and opening up to the end of the 1990s, China is in the second stage, R & D intensity is still in a low stage, the rapid economic development stage requires a large number of imported technology, foreign technology dependence is higher. 2000-2020, China is in the third stage, China's R&D/GDP began to reach 1%, scientific and technological development has entered the leaping period, R & D intensity is gradually increased, foreign technology dependence gradually decreased, technology learning Dependence on foreign technology gradually declined, technological learning ability greatly improved, independent innovation ability is constantly enhanced. After 2020, China steps into the IV stage of innovative countries, with R&D intensity reaching over 2.5% and foreign technology dependence falling to below 30%. In both Stage I and Stage IV, the degree of foreign technology dependence is low, but there is a world of difference. It takes decades or even generations of effort to move from Stage I to Stage IV. [①] The original formula should be: technology dependence (%) = technology imported funds / (R&D funds + technology imported funds - technology export funds), due to the fact that there is no technology export funds statistics, and in China's technology exports are very small, so in the planning of the measurement formula will be ignored in the technology export funds to zero. With the gradual improvement of the international technology balance of payments statistics, the impact of technology exports should be considered in the formula.