Review

Technological Capital: Conceptual Clarification, Knowledge Structure and Analysis Framework

  • Gao Tengfei ,
  • Chen Gang ,
  • Ling Yuqiao
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  • (School of Journalism & Communication, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China)

Received date: 2021-10-22

  Revised date: 2022-01-21

  Online published: 2022-06-27

Abstract

The new research issue of technological capital has gradually emerged with the continuous deepening research in technology and related fields, besides traditional topics such as technological innovation and technological progress. It is the capital formed by the transformation of technology. As a factor of production. it is an important way to accelerate the transformation of technology into productivity and create more value and also of great significance for accelerating the development of digital economy. It not only expands the mainstream discussion of technology, but also extends the research field of technology that can be transformed into capital and create value. However, as a new and independent capital form and research field, technological capital has not yet reached a consensus in terms of concept, connotation, characteristics, key issues, and theoretical basis. Therefore, it is urgent to sort out the existing research to refine the research content, clarify the knowledge structure, build a research framework, condense research consensus and clarify future research directions.#br#In this regard, this paper reviews and perfects the concept of technological capital, clarifies the target attribute of its value-added value, and distinguishes it from related concepts such as technology and technological resource. Then, on the basis of traditional literature research methods, CiteSpace software is used to perform quantitative analysis of 125 Chinese papers and 89 English papers related to technological capital, and the knowledge map is drawn to visualize the knowledge structure, and the similarities and differences of research topics and areas are discussed. These papersare from databases such as Web of Science and CNKI, and are screened by specific search terms and literature types, such as technology capital, technical capital, technological capital, technological and capital. The types of documents are articles, proceeding papers, reviews, etc. Finally, this paper further analyzes the network node literature and high-cited literature obtained from the knowledge graph by means of theoretical analysis, and tentatively constructs an integrated analysis framework from an overall perspective for grasping the research status of technological capital.#br#In this framework, the following results are derived.Firstly, technological capital is a kind of capital which can bring value increment in the long term after the capitalization process of tangible or intangible resources with technology as the carrier. The essential difference between it and other related concepts such as technology and technological resources lies in that technological capital can be integrated with other forms of capital and directly put into production activities without going through market circulation, which is also the unique influence of its capital attributes. Secondly,the research on technological capital at home and abroad has formed a huge and complex knowledge structure around technology, capital, factors, management, innovation, production activities and other aspects, and has shown the characteristics of large span, wide field, multi-level, networking, diversification and decentralization. At the same time, scholars have explored three different research models from the perspectives of technology, capital and technological capitalization, which can reveal the knowledge structure of technological capital from a broader perspective. Thirdly, an integrated analysis framework of technological capital research can be constructed from four aspects: factors, formation, mechanism and effect. Among them, the change and development at the social level, the R&D innovation and technology management at the enterprise level, and the technological ability and cognition at the individual level are the important factors which plays an important driving role in technological capital. Technological capitalization is the core path of the generation of technological capital, and it promotes the transformation of technology from technological achievements to technological resources and finally to technological capital. Technological capital has certain influence on enterprise value, performance, innovation, social progress and digital divide. The main mechanism includes capital substitution effect, industrial diffusion effect and technological change effect. Fourthly, future research efforts can be paid to improve the measurement method of technological capital, analyze its relationship with digital economy and explore localization in the Chinese context.#br#This paper adopts the innovative combination of theoretical analysis and bibliometrics to analyze the basic concepts and research progress of technological capital. Meanwhile, this paper outlines the knowledge structure of technological capital and puts forward a new analytical framework, which clarifies the research progress at home and abroad. In addition, it summarizes the inadequacies of the existing research on technological capital, and puts forward feasible research directions at multiple levels, laying a research foundation for further analysis in the future.#br#

Cite this article

Gao Tengfei , Chen Gang , Ling Yuqiao . Technological Capital: Conceptual Clarification, Knowledge Structure and Analysis Framework[J]. Science & Technology Progress and Policy, 2022 , 39(12) : 150 -160 . DOI: 10.6049/kjjbydc.2021100515

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