Ready-steady-go for emerging technologies in post catch-up countries: a longitudinal network analysis of nanotech in Korea

This paper presents a case study of government R&D nanotech networks in Korea to elaborate the characteristics of post catch-up countries on the border line between developing and developed countries. Using to longitudinal network analysis, this paper examines expectation building and learning process as key components for the emerging technology development during the post catch-up era. Findings suggest that a change of the global R&D landscape sparks the development of emerging technologies by expectation building and resource attraction for technology development. Prior to this spark, however, an internal learning mechanism is ready for the development process.