Reprint of "Performance evaluation of China's high-tech innovation process :Analysis based on the innovation value chain"

The Chinese high-tech industry has developed greatly since the beginning of China's “National High-tech R&D (863) Program” and “China Torch Program”. This paper introduces a conceptual model extended from the innovation value chain model to simultaneously estimate the R&D and commercialization efficiencies for the high-tech industries of 29 provincial-level regions in China. To match reality, a network DEA incorporating both shared inputs and additional intermediate inputs is constructed to open the “black box” view of decision making units used in single-stage DEA. This study is the first attempt to link the R&D and commercialization with a solid theoretical foundation and feasible mathematical methods. The empirical findings show that most of the 29 regions have low efficiency in the commercialization sub-process compared to the R&D sub-process, although there are regional differences in China's high-tech industry. Pearson correlation shows that the R&D sub-process is not closely correlated to the commercialization sub-process in terms of efficiency. Our analysis can provide information for the formulation of policies to achieve high innovation efficiency.     

Performance evaluation of China's high-tech innovation process: Analysis based on the innovation value chain

The Chinese high-tech industry has developed greatly since the beginning of China's “National High-tech R&D (863) Program” and “China Torch Program”. This paper introduces a conceptual model extended from the innovation value chain model to simultaneously estimate the R&D and commercialization efficiencies for the high-tech industries of 29 provincial-level regions in China. To match reality, a network DEA incorporating both shared inputs and additional intermediate inputs is constructed to open the “black box” view of decision making units used in single-stage DEA. This study is the first attempt to link the R&D and commercialization with a solid theoretical foundation and feasible mathematical methods. The empirical findings show that most of the 29 regions have low efficiency in the commercialization sub-process compared to the R&D sub-process, although there are regional differences in China's high-tech industry. Pearson correlation shows that the R&D sub-process is not closely correlated to the commercialization sub-process in terms of efficiency. Our analysis can provide information for the formulation of policies to achieve high innovation efficiency.     

Efficiency evaluation of China's high-tech industry with a multi-activity network data envelopment analysis approach

This paper employs a Russell multi-activity network DEA model and divides the overall innovation process into the upstream Research and Development (R&D) process and the downstream commercialization process to appraise the innovation performance of China's high-tech industries from 2009 to 2013. This model can deal with the problems of intermediates, shared inputs and slack-based measure in a unified framework, and the result can provide policy makers with process-specific information on how to improve the innovation performance of China's high-tech industries. The main findings are presented as follows. First, the overall efficiency of China's high-tech industries still remains at a low level, which has its roots mainly in commercialization inefficiencies other than R&D inefficiencies. Second, for most provinces, their R&D efficiencies do not match up with their commercialization efficiencies. Finally, the innovative activities of China's high-tech industries should be driven by the market demand -oriented for the improvement of innovation efficiency.     

Determinants of industrial innovation in China: Evidence from its recent economic census

This study examines the sources of technological innovation in Chinese industries using the 2004 economic census data. On the one hand, it analyzes the relationships between patent grants and new product sales. On the other hand, it analyzes the relationships among in-house R&D, technology transfer from foreign and Chinese domestic technology markets, spillover effects of foreign investment, as well as export. The study reveals that in-house R&D has become the most important source for industrial innovation in China. In-house technological efforts are critical for developing original innovations as well as for absorbing the technologies transferred from external agencies. However, neither technologies transferred from foreign countries nor those from the domestic technology market are playing significant roles in China’s industrial innovation. The spillover effect of foreign investment on patent grants is strong and significant, though its impact on new product sales is insignificant. Export shows negative, though insignificant, impact on patent grants, but positive, strong, and significant effects on new product development. Overall, the results of this study demonstrate the critical role of in-house R&D in China’s industrial innovation.     

Corporate R&D and firm efficiency: evidence from Europe’s top R&D investors

The main objective of this study is to investigate the impact of corporate research and development (R&D) activities on firm performance, measured by labour productivity. To this end, the stochastic frontier technique is used on a unique unbalanced longitudinal dataset comprising top European R&D investors over the period 2000–2005. In this framework, this study quantifies technical inefficiency of individual firms. From a policy perspective, the results of this study suggest that if the aim is to leverage firms’ productivity, the emphasis should be put on supporting corporate R&D in high-tech sectors and, to some extent, in medium-tech sectors. On the other hand, corporate R&D in the low-tech sector is found to have a minor effect in explaining productivity. Instead, encouraging investment in fixed assets appears important for the productivity of low-tech industries. Hence, the allocation of support for corporate R&D seems to be as important as its overall increase and an ‘erga omnes’ approach across all sectors appears inappropriate. However, with regard to technical efficiency, R&D intensity is found to be a pivotal factor in explaining firm efficiency and this turns out to be true for all industries.     

Contributions and Channels of Interindustry R&D Spillovers: An Estimation for Japanese High-tech Industries

This paper estimates the contributions of R&D spillovers to four high-tech industries in Japan—general machinery, electrical machinery, transportation machinery and chemicals—by estimating the trans-log cost and share functions that include the R&D stock variables of own and spillover-source industries. The candidates for spillover- source industries are selected on the basis of large R&D flow or R&D proximity. The R&D flow measures the spillover embodied in purchased intermediate goods using input–output coefficients. The R&D proximity measures the extent of similarity between a pair of industries of the distribution of R&D expenditures across research fields, and is expected to show the likelihood of spillover at the R&D stage. The results suggest that electrical machinery benefited from R&D in the chemical industry, through the purchase of intermediate goods, whereas general machinery and transportation machinery benefited from R&D in the metal products industry, through R&D proximity. There was no evidence of the chemical industry benefiting from R&D spillovers. These results clearly imply that the contributions and the channels of R&D spillovers are diverse, casting doubt on earlier studies that used weighted sums of R&D expenditures (or their stocks) of other industries as aggregate spillover variables.     

税收优惠政策能否激励中国企业创新？——基于创新链视角的探究

选取2007—2019年中国上市公司的面板数据，从创新链视角探究税收优惠政策如何激励中国企业自主创新。研究发现，税收优惠政策对企业创新链的投入、产出以及效率环节均有显著激励作用。通过更换估计模型、构建工具变量等稳健性检验后，研究结论依然成立。异质性分析发现，税收优惠政策在创新投入端对非国企研发资金投入激励效果更强，对于国有企业研发人员投入以及企业创新链产出端激励效果更强；对于处于高技术行业的企业，税收优惠政策在企业创新链各个环节的激励作用都比非高技术行业企业更强。研究为企业创新决策、优化税收优惠政策增加了新的认知，为实施创新驱动发展战略提供了有益启示。     

R&D performance assessment of industrial enterprises in China: A two-stage DEA approach

With the growing expenditure on the R&D activities of industrial enterprises above designated size (IEDSs) in China, it is important to evaluate the R&D efficiency of the Chinese IEDSs. However, few studies about R&D efficiency measurement of Chinese IEDSs have considered the internal structure of the R&D production process. To fill this gap, this paper investigates the R&D performance of IEDSs of 30 sample provinces on China's mainland from 2009 to 2014, based on a two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) model. The major findings from the empirical results are shown as follows: (i) serious imbalance exists in the R&D resources among Chinese IEDSs of 30 provinces; (ii) there is a decline in the average overall efficiencies after 2012; (iii) there are great differences regarding the performances of R&D activities among the Chinese IEDSs of 30 provinces; (iv) high attention to the R&D activities or strong scientific research atmosphere may promote the R&D efficiency of Chinese IEDSs; and (v) the IEDSs with the relatively high profitability or high government support in terms of R&D activities have relatively poor performance. Based on these findings, several policy suggestions are proposed for the R&D activities of Chinese IEDSs.     

Favorable strategies for the success of entry into new technological areas: an entrepreneurial perspective

This study considers the act of entering into new technological domains for R&D purposes as one of the most intense entrepreneurial activities within large established firms, referring to it as R&D entrepreneurship. Attempting to detect factors that could strengthen (or weaken) the impact of R&D entrepreneurship on innovation performance, I examine the moderating role of three important R&D strategies, namely the knowledge plurality, internal focus, and R&D collaboration. I empirically test the hypotheses developed in this study on secondary, longitudinal economic and patent data from a sample of 139 firms from the industries of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and chemicals for a 7-year period, using fixed-effects negative binomial regression models. Findings support that the relationship between R&D entrepreneurship and innovation performance is positively moderated by knowledge plurality but negatively by internal focus and R&D collaboration.

     

Measuring the innovation production process: A cross-region empirical study of China’s high-tech innovations

Analyzing and measuring the innovation process from a quantitative perspective is needed for policy making, which can help in grasping and controlling the performance of innovations. There has been little literature to deal with it from a systemic perspective. In this study, a novel measurement framework for the typical innovation production process (IPP) is constructed from the system perspective associated with a relational network data envelopment analysis. It provides systematic and simultaneous efficiency measures for the overall process and internal sub-processes, i.e., upstream R&D process and downstream commercialization process. For confirming our measurement framework, we apply it to a cross-region empirical study of China’s high-tech innovations. The empirical innovation measurement provides in-depth evidences of China’s high-tech innovations inefficiency, and some policy recommendations are developed.     

Effects of intellectual property rights and patented knowledge in innovation and industry value added: A multinational empirical analysis of different industries

Technological innovation drives long-term economic growth, so most countries attempt to provide an innovation-friendly environment that includes tightening protection of intellectual property rights (IPR). However, debate continues on whether strengthened IPR lead to technological development and economic growth: patents promote innovation by protecting appropriation from invention and disclosing knowledge to the public, but they also create excessive monopoly power that may impede further innovation.Using simultaneous equations with cross-country panel data from 12 countries and 3 industries (chemical, electronic, machinery), we estimated the direct effect of IPR on industry value added and the indirect effect of it through enhanced research and development (R&D). The bilateral role of IPR, as measured by patented knowledge, was used to distinguish different characteristics of industries as well as the positive and negative effects of IPR on innovation.Results suggest that IPR generally enhance industry value added, but the positive effect is mitigated with increased enforcement of IPR. Also, IPR enhanced R&D but showed a negative relationship with patented knowledge, suggesting that excessive propertization of knowledge may hinder sequential innovation. The positive role of IPR on R&D predominated in the chemical (discrete) industry and exerted negative effects in the electronic and machinery (complex) industries.     

广西高新区发展现状、存在问题及对策建议

高新区是推进科技创新、成果转化、高新技术产业发展的重要载体。近年来,广西高新区在集聚科技创新资源,引领高新技术产业发展,辐射、带动地方经济增长中发挥了重要作用。文章分析广西高新区发展的现状,研究阻碍和制约广西高新区发展的主要因素,并在此基础上提出加快广西高新区发展的若干建议。     

广西高新区发展现状、存在问题及对策建议

高新区是推进科技创新、成果转化、高新技术产业发展的重要载体。近年来,广西高新区在集聚科技创新资源,引领高新技术产业发展,辐射、带动地方经济增长中发挥了重要作用。文章分析广西高新区发展的现状,研究阻碍和制约广西高新区发展的主要因素,并在此基础上提出加快广西高新区发展的若干建议。     

Estimating the multi-period efficiency of high-tech research institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences: A dynamic slacks-based measure

Although a large amount of past research has studied the measurement of institutional research and development (R&D) efficiency, there has been limited dynamic empirical investigation of this topic. This study differs from previous studies in its consideration of R&D capital stock, which is defined as a carry-over activity between two consecutive periods. To further test high-tech institutes’ R&D performance in the pre-reform and post-reform periods, we evaluate a panel of 29 high-tech institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) for 2011–2017 with a dynamic slacks-based measure. (a) The empirical value of the average overall efficiency is 0.5559, and the clustering analysis shows that institutes operating above the average overall efficiency level follow an increasing and then decreasing trend, while those operating below the average overall efficiency level follow a decreasing and then increasing trend. (b) The efficiency of low-performing institutes has increased from 0.2259 in the pre-reform period to 0.2727 in the post-reform period, which does not reflect the efficiency improvements of high-performing institutes. (c) High-tech institutes selected as pilot institutes have an average efficiency level of 0.6524, which is higher than that of non-pilot institutes (0.4765), indicating the benchmarking effect of pilots. (d) The types of pilot institutes can be ordered as follows: feature institutes > centres of excellence > innovative academies. (e) The total-factor input efficiency level has decreased in the post-reform period. Only the total-factor efficiency of high-quality papers has increased in the post-reform period (by 0.0094).     

Making sense of innovation by R&D and non-R&D innovators in low technology contexts: A forgotten lesson for policymakers

This paper attempts to use an integrated theory based on the framework of a firm's internal and external sources of knowledge to analyze how R&D activities differ in innovation from non-R&D activities, especially in the context of low and medium-low tech (LMT) sectors where most of the firms are SMEs. Simultaneously, the paper also explores the key differences between R&D and non-R&D innovators. The empirical analysis is based on a representative panel of 2023 Spanish manufacturing firms from the Spanish Ministry of Industry for 2005 and 2006. Innovation in product and process is explained using non-R&D variables such as marketing, design or the hiring of tertiary degree employees. Only innovation in product is explained by R&D expenditures. Regarding innovation in process, the R&D variables work in a few specific cases. Therefore, innovation can be explained using non-R&D variables. The firms with more internal resources, those which conduct R&D activities, present a better absorptive capacity (AC) and this leads them to engage in cooperation agreements and to access external flows of knowledge. The paper has important implications for policymakers due to the fact that most policies for R&D are based just on R&D programmes.     

技术势差、要素替代与制造业核心技术突破——基于系统动力学模型的理论分析

在有限的前沿技术公开度之下,巨大的技术势差是制约中国制造业核心技术突破的重要原因。从宏观上讲,经济和技术政策均会对技术变革产生一定的影响。从微观上讲,核心技术突破所获得的持续利润增长决定了企业技术研发的创新投入动机。利用产品质量模型并借鉴L-V理论,引入前沿技术势差、要素替代弹性等关键变量构建系统动力学模型,研究发现：较为宽松的技术竞争环境能够带来更高的研发产出效率,而降级技术势差初始门限值则能激发企业较高的研发投入动机;相反,要素替代弹性的上升则不利于研发投入的产出效率增加。为此,中国制造业核心技术的创新和突破,不仅需要宽松的技术竞争环境,还需要降低与国际前沿技术之间的势差。     

The differential effects of public R&D support on firm R&D: Theory and evidence from multi-country data

This paper aims to evaluate the effects of various forms of public research and development (R&D) support on firms’ incentives to invest in R&D. First, in order to identify potential channels through which public R&D support influences firm R&D, a formal model of firm R&D with public R&D support is developed and analyzed. Four potential channels are identified: the technological-competence-enhancing effect, the demand-creating effect, the R&D-cost-reducing effect and the (project) overlap (or duplication) effect. These multiple channels indicate that it is difficult to evaluate the aggregate effect of public R&D support and that there are differential effects of public R&D support on firm R&D, depending on various firm- or industry-specific characteristics. Second, the differential effects of public R&D support are empirically tested using unique firm-level data for nine industries across six countries. Public support tends to have a complementarity effect on private R&D for firms with low technological competence, for firms in industries with high technological opportunities and for firms facing intense market competition. In contrast, firms with high technological competence and firms that have enjoyed fast demand growth in recent years show a crowding-out effect, and firm size and age do not show any discernible differential effect.     

Roles, resources and benefits of intermediate organizations supporting triple helix collaborative R&D: The case of Precarn

Triple helix collaborations involving academia, government and industry are believed vital to the success of regional technology development. However, due to differences in culture, organizational functioning and incentive mechanisms as well as the different objectives of the various actors involved, such collaboration is difficult to create and sustain. A case study of the organization called Precarn, a collaborative, which manages a program of triple helix projects, is used here to illustrate how an intermediate organization can help triple helix partnerships towards the successful commercialization of new technologies. The paper contributes to the literature on managing R&D collaborations and innovation networks using organization theories to explain why and how collaborative intermediate organizations can facilitate successful technological adoption and commercialization across innovation networks.     

基于DEA的新疆大中型工业企业技术创新效率研究

2009年新疆主要行业-大中型工业企业技术创新运转状况较差,共有6个行业中的大中型工业企业达到了DEA有效,其他11个行业为非DEA有效,整体水平较低,各行业发展很不平衡,许多行业中存在投入冗余和产出不足。一些行业,如石油加工、炼焦及核燃料加工业,在技术创新活动投入量较大,但投入产出的效率不高;而像专用设备制造业等则相反,创新效率很高。这样,新疆急需提高科技投入产出效率,加大行业自主创新力度,加速实现新疆大中型工业企业技术创新的跨越式发展。