ABSTRACT
Introduction Latecomer catch-up through initially acquiring and appropriating foreign technology has been the prime source of rapid economic growth of South Korea and Taiwan (Amsden, 1989; Amsden and Chu, 2003; Mathews and Cho, 2000). However, much of such works have focused on the transfer of technology. Few have broached firm-level strategies to explain systematically how they were formulated to close the gap with front-runners and eventually to leapfrog them.
