Published

TMCD Newsletter - OCTOBER 2019

 

 

ISSUE 15 - OCTOBER 2019

A newsletter of the Technology & Management Centre for Development at Oxford University

Our New TMCD Website

We would like to share that our newly launched TMCD website went live in June this year. It has been designed to offer the ultimate user-friendly experience with improved navigation and functionality. Visitors can stay informed of the latest TMCD news, events and new research projects.

We hope you will like this new website and welcome any feedback from you.For more information, please visit the new site
here.

 

UPCOMING EVENT

4th SINO - UK FORUM
We are delighted to announce that the 4th SINO-UK Forum will be held at the University of Oxford on the 11th of  November 2019. The Forum is open to anyone interested in science, technology and innovation policy collaboration between China and the UK.

The theme for the 2019 China-UK Innovation & Development Forum is 'Emerging technologies and the future of economy and society'. This year’s forum aims to facilitate discussions on the most recent developments in science, technology and innovation, and its impact on economic and social development, among policy makers, academics and business leaders in China and the UK.

For more information, please click
here.

 

NEW RESEARCH

ESRC GCRF funded Inclusive Digital Model (IDMODEL) project

The New Digital Technology-based Business Model for Inclusive Development (IDMODEL) project is a research into a new business model that seeks to enable the poorest people in developing countries to generate income and empower others by sharing their skills and experience using digital technology. IDMODEL is a collaborative project between the Technology and Management Centre for Development (TMCD) at the Oxford Department of International Development and the Department of Strategy and International Business at the University of Birmingham. It is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council’s Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF).
  
Professor Xiaolan Fu is the Principal Investigator and Professor Pervez Ghauri is the Co-investigator.The team conducted a survey in China to collect data on Kwai app and how the APP is enabling the poor and the marginalized participate in market activities.
 
Following the China fieldwork, the project team and our partners are preparing for the pilot and baseline surveys in three cities of Dhaka, Bogura and Barisal in Bangladesh. Both the pilot and baseline surveys are scheduled to be undertaken in October, and will be led by the Research Officer of IDMODEL, Dr. Elvis Korku Avenyo. The project team is also working on developing a video-based APP for our baseline and endline surveys. The APP is being developed in collaboration with our partner BK Tech Ventures and SBK Foundation. Watch out for more details on the IDMODEL APP.

See the
project website for more details.

UNEP funded research on Trade in Environmentally Sound Technologies

The UNEP project aims to enhance understanding of the implications, capacity needs and enabling conditions for trade liberalization of ESTs, with focus on developing countries. It focuses its analysis on five ESTs, namely solar photovoltaic cells (PVs), water filters, waste incinerators, gas filtering machinery, hemp and flax fibers

A comprehensive sustainability assessment framework is presented to illustrate the benefits from selected ESTs. The study finds that trade in environmentally sound technologies offers triple win opportunities for the environment, economy and people in developing countries in terms of economic growth, job creation, export diversification, technological development, and environmental protection. Environmental credibility, therefore, needs to be the underlying principle of any negotiating initiative, to ensure both true environmental benefits and buy-in by stakeholders.
 
Find out more
here.

 

OUR NEW STAFF

 


Dr. Elvis Korku Avenyo assumed his role as the Research Officer of IDMODEL on August 1, 2019. Dr. Avenyo is responsible for managing the day-to-day running of the Inclusive Digital Model (IDMODEL) project, conducting field research in Bangladesh, and writing of academic papers based on the project data.
 


Jörg Mayer is a Senior Economist at the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) where he is part of the team that prepares UNCTAD’s annual Trade and Development Report. Before joining the United Nations in 1991, he was an economist in the International Department of the German Central Bank.
 
Joerg Mayer (Visiting Study Fellow) will affiliate 01/03/2020 - 30/06/2020.

Dr. YANG Zhiyuan, associate professor and Post-doctorate candidate at Chinese Academy of Social Science. His current research focuses on Global Value Chains.
 
Zhiyuan Yang (Visiting Research fellow) will affiliate 14/10/2019 - 13/10/2020


Mrs Hui Jiao-Rashbrook joined TMCD in February this year as the team’s new Project Coordinator.  A graduate of London South Bank University with an MSc in Advanced Information Technology, she is a Full Member of the Association of Accounting Technicians (MAAT) and is currently studying towards full Chartered status (ACCA).
 

Nwamaka Ogbonna is a 2nd year Mphil in Development Studies Candidate at the Oxford Department of International Development (ODID). Her research broadly focuses on FDI and Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Nigeria. Nwamaka is also the President of the Oxford University Africa Society (AfriSoc).

Nwamaka will be the new Communications Officer for TMCD.


Huiling Liu is a PhD student from Huazhong University of Science and Technology under the direction of Professor Jianhua Zhang. Her main research fields is in the economics of innovation, industrial economics and international economics. Her current research focuses on trade in environmental goods (green trade) in China, especially its impacts on environmental innovation.
 
Huiling Liu (Student Visitor) will affiliate 01/10/2019 - 31/12/2019  


Jean-Christophe Spiliotis is a researcher at the TMCD for the Valuation of Early Stage Technology project. He is a currently pursuing an MPhil in Economics at the University of Oxford. His research and teaching are centred on quantitative methods for economics, both theoretical (game theory, financial mathematics, and graph theory) and empirical (econometrics, statistics and information theory). He is also the president of Economists Without Borders.

Jingfeng Zhang is a second year Economics MRes/PhD student at London School of Economics. His research interests lie in the fields of economic growth and economic development. Prior to PhD studies, he obtained a MSc Economics degree from LSE and a BA(Hons) Economics degree from  University of Cambridge.

 

OUR NEW PhD STUDENTS

Rong Chen is a DPhil candidate in International Development. Her research focuses on digital economy, including regulatory challenges imposed by digital platform firms, digital entrepreneurship, and e-commerce. Before arriving at Oxford, she completed a Master of Public Administration degree with concentration on Economic Policy and Sustainable Finance from Cornell University. Rong is currently an Economist at the Development Economics Vice Presidency of the World Bank Group.

Ludovic Arnaud is a French student who studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at King's College London and the MPhil Development Studies at the University of Cambridge. During his time in Oxford, he will investigate what factors influence the impact of foreign direct investment on regional innovation systems in China and Mexico, looking at one region in each country and specialising on the renewable energy industry. His research will build on work he is currently pursuing at the United Nations CEPAL in Mexico City on the employment effect of FDI in different regions and industries. 

Liu Shi is a DPhil candidate in International Development. She holds a master's degree from Tsinghua University (2018), and a bachelor’s degree from Peking University (2015). Her DPhil research seeks to understand how local government and business interact in a transitional economy, and how the dynamics and complexity of interaction affects firm innovation performance from a managerial perspective. It also examines the policy implications for countries experiencing substantial structural transition in market and institutions.

 

GOODBYES

TMCD bids goodbye to Max-Sebastian Dovi and Sophie Boote who have completed their projects with the center.

Max-Sebastian Dovì was a student in the MPhil in Economics programme at Oxford. He worked with the TMCD and UNDP on social credit scoring technology in China and its impact on levels of social capital. He previously graduated from Bocconi University with a degree in Economics, and simultaneously completed a second undergraduate degree in International Relations and Philosophy at the University of St Andrews.


Sophie Boote is an empirical Microeconomist who graduated from the MSc in Economics for Development at QEH in 2018. At the Technology and Management Centre for Development (TMCD), she worked on digital technology, social trust, and inclusive development in China alongside the UNDP and the IDMODEL project in Bangladesh.

Also, Professor Xiaoqiang Xing, Professor Qun Bao, Dr Zaijing Wang & Dr Heidi Yan have all successfully completed their Fellowship with TMCD.

 

PUBLICATIONS

Articles
1. Fu, X., Essegbey, G.O. and Frempong, G.K. (2019). Multinationals, Local Capacity Building and Development: The Role of Chinese and European MNEs. Edward Elgar. Find more about the book here

2. Zhang, Y., Chen, K. and Fu, X. (2019). Scientific effects of Triple Helix interactions among research institutes, industries and universities. Technovation  86–87, 33-47.

3. Avenyo, E., Mohnen, P., & Konte, M. (2019). The employment impact of product innovations in sub-Saharan Africa: Firm-level evidence. Research Policy 48 (2019): 103806. 

4. 
Kingiri, A.N. and & Fu, X. (2019). Understanding the diffusion and adoption of digital finance innovation in emerging economies: M-Pesa money mobile transfer service in Kenya.  Innovation and Development, DOI: 10.1080/2157930X.2019.1570695

5. Chen, K., Zhang, Y. and Fu, X. (2018). ‘International Research Collaboration: An Emerging Domain of Innovation Studies?’ Research Policy. Vol 48, Issue 1, 149-168.

6. Fu, X., Sun, Z. & Ghauri, P. (2018) ‘Reverse knowledge acquisition in emerging market MNEs: the experiences of Huawei and ZTE’, Journal of Business Research, Vol 93, 202-215.

7. Chen, K., Kou, M. and Fu, X. (2018). Evaluation of multi-period regional R&D efficiency: An application of dynamic DEA to China's regional R&D systems. OMEGA, 74, 103-114.

8. United Nations Environment Programme. (2019). Trade in environmentally sound technologies: implications for Developing Countries. Find the document
here

9. Wang, Z. (2019) A monograph titled “An Evaluation Study on China’s Science, Technology and Innovation Policy: Policy’s Value Orientation, Evaluation Framework and Indexes”, which is regarded as the first systematic and professional book on STI policy evaluation in China. Dr Wang has also co-authored or co-translated 6 other books in same research field.

Forthcoming Books & Journal Papers
1. Fu, X. ‘Innovation under the radar: The nature and sources of innovation in Africa’, Cambridge University Press, in press, forthcoming.

2. Fu, X., Chen, J. and McKern, B. (eds) Oxford Handbook of China Innovation, Oxford University Press (forthcoming). This Handbook has a collection of 40 chapters written by leading scholars in the field from both China and globally.

3. Shi, L., Li, S., Fu, X. (2019). The Fourth Industrial Revolution, Technology Innovation and Wage Inequality: Firm Level Evidence from OECD Economies.  “Revue d'économie industrielle”.

Other 2019 highlights

1.Professor Xiaolan Fu’s co-authored research paper won the International Business Review (IBR) Best Journal Paper of the Year Award for 2018.

2.Professor Xiaolan Fu, has been invited onto the Advisory Board of the United Nations University (UNU-MERIT).

3.Professor Xiaolan Fu, has been appointed a Member of the Newton Prize Committee of the Newton Fund.

4.The TMCD welcomed Sinuo Chen, Torbjörn Fredriksson, Sonia Kabir and Syed Muntasir Mamun as members of the advisory board for the IDMODEL research project.

5.Professor Xiaolan Fu, participated in a UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. The Expert Group Meeting reviewed progress to SDG8: Decent Work and Economic Growth held on the 10th of July 2019.  

6.The TMCD extended its congratulations to our senior research associate, Professor 
Mammo Muchie, for his award as a finalist for Science, Engineering and technology (SET) at the South African National Science and Technology Forum's (NSTF) 2018/2019 NSTF-South 32 Awards ceremony held in in Johannesburg, South Africa on June 27, 2019.

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