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Journal of Economic Geography Advance Access published online on April 24, 2006
Journal of Economic Geography, doi:10.1093/jeg/lbi021
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© The Author (2006). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received April 26, 2005
Accepted December 1, 2005

Article

The geography of learning and knowledge acquisition among Asian latecomers

Jessie P. H. Poon 1 *, Jinn-Yuh Hsu 2, and Suh Jeongwook 3

1 Department of Geography, University at Buffalo-SUNY, Buffalo, NY 14261, USA
2 Department of Geography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
3 Ministry of Foreign Affairs And Trade, Republic of Korea

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Jessie P. H. Poon, E-mail: Jesspoon{at}buffalo.edu


  Abstract

This paper examines the geography of technological learning and knowledge acquisition among Taiwanese and Korean firms. Specifically it focuses on the knowledge sourcing experience of Asian manufacturing latecomers in the United States (US). The Asian latecomer model of learning is characterized by a triangular spatial division of knowledge sourcing and technological production that involves the transfer and circulation of knowledge across multiple spatial scales. At the regional level, Korean and Taiwanese firms rely on local learning systems in the form of science parks to create favorable domestic agglomeration economies that are conducive for knowledge accretion. At the trans-regional level, non-core R&D and the manufacturing of technology-driven products are geographically concentrated in China. Lastly, local and trans-regional learning are supplemented by international sourcing of knowledge through the location and investment of R&D facilities in the US. To the extent that extra-local knowledge sourcing in the US is associated with the acquisition of new knowledge forms, such a multiscalar spatial strategy is expected to help transform Asian learners from technology latecomer to technology newcomer status.

Keywords: knowledge sourcing; learning; Taiwan; Korea; multiple scales; technology.
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