Effects of public funding on firm innovation: transforming or reinforcing a weak innovation pattern?

ABSTRACT

This paper adds to the ongoing debate on the effects of public funding programmes on business innovation. This policy instrument, based upon a simple but a robust rationale, has been applied in an almost homogeneous manner in different contexts, but evidence from such experiences is far from shown homogeneous effects. The main contribution of this paper is that it shows the limitations faced by public funding instruments in affecting a traditionally low innovative pattern. Using panel data techniques, we find heterogeneous effects of public funding on the innovation behaviour of Uruguayan firms between 2001 and 2015. Our results show that, after a strong public policy effort, the critical mass of innovative firms has hardly changed. Input additionality effects of public funding in private innovation investment are found, but only for innovation activities based on the acquisition of embodied knowledge. Moreover, we obtain some evidence of behavioural additionality in process and organizational innovation leading to higher productivity levels, but we find no effects on interaction for innovation.     

我国创新支持政策:理论分析及其有效性检验

本文在一个累积创新框架下分析了各种创新支持政策的作用机理,并检验了我国相应政策工具在促进私人研发作用上的有效性。运用我国地区大中型工业企业数据进行系统GMM估计发现,直接资助以及高校提供的公共研发对企业私人研发产生替代效应,科研机构提供的公共研发对企业研发具有促进效应,而专利保护政策对企业研发具有不显著的负向影响。结合理论分析与经验结果,本文推断:信息不对称和项目的不可验证性导致的道德风险,高校研发以应用技术为主的导向未得到根本转变以及企业整体创新能力偏低,是导致我国创新支持政策效果不佳的主要原因。     

技术信息获取、政府科技资助影响企业创新能力吗

技术和资金是企业创新活动的关键要素，采用2014-2017年中国内地31个省级行政区数据，对技术信息获取、政府科技资助是否影响企业创新能力进行理论假设和实证检验。结果表明：技术信息获取对企业创新能力有显著积极影响；政府科技资助对企业创新活动有明显“抑制效应”；技术信息获取与政府科技资助协同作用对企业创新能力有显著负向影响。结论对厘清政府科技资助对企业创新能力是“扶持效应”抑或“抑制效应”，及如何建设技术信息网络等基础设施、制定政府科技资助政策有一定借鉴意义。     

众筹投资意愿影响机理研究

众筹活动是落实“大众创业、万众创新”政策的重要推手，但当前面临投资意愿不足的问题。依托扎根理论，对众筹成功案例展开研究，探讨了众筹投资意愿的影响机理。研究发现，投资者的知觉创新与产品涉入通过负向影响其对众筹方案的知觉风险来正向影响投资者的投资意愿，投资者与筹资者的沟通及其相同或相似的价值观通过正向影响投资者对筹资者的信任来正向影响投资者的投资意愿，筹投双方相同或相似的价值观及投资者的知觉利益通过正向影响众筹承诺来正向影响投资者的投资意愿。最后，提出了提升众筹投资意愿的对策。     

Matthew effect,capabilities and innovation policy: the Argentinean case

The purpose of this paper is to test the presence of Matthew effects in different types of public funding for innovation – non-refundable grants, subsidized loans and tax credits. According to the literature, Matthew effect refers to the impact of past accessing to public funds on reputation, which increases the probability of accessing in the present. The dataset is made of 966 firms that accessed the Technological Argentinean Fund (FONTAR), main instrument to foster innovation in Argentina, during 2007–2013 – 3300 observations. Results confirm the existence of Matthew effects: past accessing to FONTAR increases the probability of accessing in the present, but only when different instruments are taken altogether. Then, Matthew effect is positively associated with the diversification of access to promotional instruments rather than the repeated access to one type of funding tool. Additionally, results show that firm’s innovation investments, R&D activities, and human resources, explain the increase in probability of accessing, which provides evidence regarding the presence of capability effects. All of this suggests that once the firm enters the system of public funding, it remains with an active innovative behaviour, not just because of reputation effects, but because it has accumulated capabilities in the pursuit of a technological advantage.     

Academia-industry collaboration,government funding and innovation efficiency in Chinese industrial enterprises

This article uses a stochastic frontier model to elaborate how academia-industry research and development collaboration and government funding influence the innovation efficiency of industrial enterprises through a panel dataset from 2009 to 2015, including 30 provinces in China. We find that the research institute-industry collaboration promotes innovation efficiency of enterprises, while university-industry collaboration is adversely associated with innovation efficiency. Government funding plays a positive role on innovation efficiency across the board. Next, we divide the sample into three clusters according to enterprises’ innovation ability. In the first cluster, which has the least innovation ability, research institute-industry collaboration, university-industry collaboration and government funding have no significant effect on enterprise innovation efficiency. In the second and third clusters, university-industry collaboration exerts a negative impact on innovation efficiency but government funding improves innovation efficiency. At the same time, we investigate the interaction effects of enterprise R&D personnel and academia-industry collaboration and government funding on innovation efficiency. We find some heterogeneity in the full sample and the three sub-samples.     

An empirical test of the regional innovation paradox: can smart specialisation overcome the paradox in Central and Eastern Europe?

The regional innovation paradox is the greater need of lagging regions to invest in innovation and their relatively lower capacity to absorb funding compared to more advanced regions. Using data on regional public spending, industry composition and economic performance, we test empirically whether there is a differential impact of European funding on regional economic growth between Eastern and Western European regions. We conclude that the paradox is proven and consider the extent to which smart specialisation strategies may help to improve the quality of governance of regional innovation systems.     

中国战略性新兴企业技术创新投入时空演化及影响因素研究

为促进中国区域经济协调发展、提升政府创新资助的有效性,基于2012—2019年中国（内地）30个省市882家战略性新兴上市企业面板数据,采用Theil指数、探索性空间数据分析（ESDA）等方法考察中国战略性新兴企业技术创新投入时空演化特征,通过构建空间面板模型,剖析战略性新兴企业技术创新投入的关键影响因素。结果显示：①企业技术创新投入总体呈波动上升趋势,东部地区投入强度最大;②企业技术创新投入总体趋于均等化,东中西三大区域内部差异较大;③企业技术创新投入“中心-外围”特征显著,中心省份多位于东中部地区,外围省份多位于西部内陆地区,空间关联模式主要表现为H-H型和L-L型;④政府创新资助对企业技术创新投入具有显著促进作用,企业技术创新投入具有显著负向空间溢出效应;⑤政府创新资助对东部地区、高创新资助企业技术创新投入的促进作用显著,高创新资助企业技术创新投入的负向空间溢出效应显著。     

如何设计国际合资企业的控制机制：基于创新视角的一个整合模型研究

随着国际合资企业（IJV）数量不断增加,合资双方都想通过IJV逐步实现自身战略目标,于是对控制权展开激烈争夺,最终导致创新绩效下降。为了解释并避免这个现象,本文以2018年制造业企业创新调查问卷中的225家IJV企业为样本,构建层次回归模型,实证检验了IJV的控制机制与创新绩效间的关系,以及创新资金来源结构的调节作用。结果表明,双方均衡的股权结构能够为IJV带来最高的产品和工艺创新绩效,中方控股的次之,外方控股的最低;IJV知识产权保护与产品创新绩效间存在倒U型关系,与工艺创新绩效间存在显著线性正相关;文化控制对IJV产品创新绩效与工艺创新绩效均有显著的正向影响;创新资金来源结构会显著正向调节知识产权保护与工艺创新绩效间的关系,且外部主导型创新资金来源结构正向调节作用最高,内部主导型次之,均衡型最低。同时为在华IJV掌握控制权并提升创新绩效提出了对策建议。     

Biotechnology as a Technological Paradigm in the Global Knowledge Structure

The aim of this study is to analyse whether the receipt of public R&D funding determines firm's R&D strategy selection. This issue is crucial, as previous studies have shown that each R&D strategy is associated to a higher, or lower, innovation performance. We consider three R&D strategies – make, buy, make–buy – and three different sources of public funding – regional, state and other (such as EU). The model estimation is performed through a multinomial logit model with random effects with a sample of 457 large firms for the period 1992–2005, taken from the Spanish Survey of Business Strategies. The main finding is that the source of the funding influences whether firms select the make, buy or make–buy strategy. Additionally, because of the panel structure of the sample, we observe that the effect of public funding on the R&D strategy selection lasts longer for state and regional funds than for other funds.     

“互联网+”赋能企业创新的异质动态效应研究——政府研发资助的调节作用

在国家推动互联网与实体经济深度融合的关键时期,以政府研发资助为切入点,剖析政府应如何更好地支持企业践行“互联网+”创新战略。在阐释政府研发资助影响“互联网+”企业创新内在机制的基础上,基于2006-2018年中国省级面板数据及门槛回归模型进行实证检验。研究发现：“互联网+”显著推动企业创新效率改善,而政府研发资助有助于强化这种积极影响;企业层面的“互联网+”创新溢出存在明显的政府研发资助三重门槛效应,只有当政府研发资助强度超越一定门槛条件时,才能最大限度地释放“互联网+”的创新溢出;政府研发资助调节下的“互联网+”创新溢出效应具有显著空间异质性特征,在不同空间层面上显现出差异化和动态化调节影响;现阶段政府研发资助对“互联网+”企业创新的正向调节溢出还相对有限,且实际调节效果具有差异化特征,表现为中部地区最为显著、东部地区次之、西部地区最弱的阶梯状分布。研究结论可为新时代下构建时空分异的政府研发资助策略,进一步加快释放“互联网+”企业创新的溢出红利提供一定启示。     

环境规制、政府研发资助对绿色技术创新的影响——基于中国内地省级层面数据的实证分析

绿色技术创新是突破“经济-环境”压力的关键所在。政府行为能够有效弥补绿色技术创新在市场经济体制下存在的天然不足。为进一步探究政府政策对绿色技术创新的影响，基于绿色技术创新的“双重外部性”特征，以我国内地31个省（市、区）2009-2017年面板数据为样本，探究环境规制、政府研发资助对绿色技术创新的直接影响效应及交互效应。结果发现，环境规制与政府研发资助均对绿色技术创新有显著正向影响，政府研发资助影响效应更大；两者互补耦合更有利于促进绿色技术创新。     

政府资助、创新人力资源错配与区域创新绩效：基于门槛效应的检验

更好地发挥政府在区域创新中的作用,是“十四五”规划与2035年远景目标纲要提出的坚持创新驱动发展的重要内容。基于2010-2019年我国内地30个省级区域面板数据,实证分析政府资助与创新人力资源错配对区域创新绩效的影响,以及创新人力资源错配的门槛效应。研究发现：(1)创新人力资源错配对区域创新绩效存在显著负向影响;(2)政府资助在创新人力资源配置不足和轻度配置过度时能够显著提升区域创新绩效,但在创新人力资源配置严重过度时具有消极作用;(3)政府资助在约2/3的省级区域表现为积极作用,其余表现为强弱不同的消极影响。因此,必须形成创新人力资源错配动态检测机制、构建政府资助创新活动的分级分类工具体系、强化区域协同创新力度,以实现创新人力资源高效自主配置。     

Endogenous Group Formation

While the rules governing the formation of groups engaging in collective action may have significant impact on group size and behavior of members, most experiments on public goods have been conducted with the subjects in exogenously fixed groups or of fixed sizes. We study endogenous formation of groups in a public‐goods provision game by allowing subjects to change groups under three sets of rules: free entry/exit, restricted entry with free exit, and free entry with restricted exit. We find that the rules governing entry and exit do have a significant impact on individual behavior and group‐level outcomes.     

Public Funding of Political Parties

This paper studies the typical European system for public funding of parties, where parties receive public funds depending on their vote share. These funds finance electoral campaigns. It is shown that such a funding system increases policy convergence. The effect is larger, the more funding depends on vote shares. If the parties have access to other means of campaign finance given in a lump‐sum way, the effect is moderated.     

Innovation in the bioeconomy – dynamics of biorefinery innovation networks

The bioeconomy has become a central concept in many strategies for future economic development, emphasising an increasing need for collaboration across industries and sectors for innovation. This paper unpacks aspects of collaboration in the bioeconomy by looking at the development of innovation networks for biorefinery technologies from 2004 to 2014 based on innovation project data from Swedish public funding agencies using a stochastic actor-oriented model for network analysis. The analysis shows that although the network grew significantly during the time period, indicating an increasing interest in biorefinery technology innovation, inter-sectoral collaboration is not favoured over intra-sectoral collaboration. As is known from previous work on social networks trust-building is a key driver for collaboration, as actors tend to form collaborations with previous partners or indirectly connected partners, creating clustered networks.     

产学研合作创新绩效影响因素元分析研究

为探寻中国产学研合作创新绩效影响因素，挖掘促进中国产学研深度融合的发力点,运用元分析方法，对中国国内与产学研合作创新绩效影响因素相关文献进行再分析，结果发现：①企业层面的企业规模、企业知识吸收能力、企业研发人员投入与企业研发经费投入，组织间层面的知识协同性、知识转移能力、信息沟通渠道及合作紧密度，政府层面的政策支持与经费支持，区域层面的法律法规完善性与经济发展水平均能够显著提升产学研合作创新绩效；②区位因素、数据类型分别对产学研合作创新绩效与企业规模、政府经费资助关系具有显著调节作用。     

各国促进公共研究商业化的举措及其启示

公共研究是技术创新的源泉,公共研究的商业化是提升国家经济竞争力的有效手段。当前,各国政府采取了多种举措促进公共研究的商业化。各国的举措主要包括:完善成果归属和考核评价机制,激励公共研究机构和人员开展商业化活动的积极性;设立专项计划,资助研究机构与企业开展合作;通过专利基金等工具让公共研究成果得到最大利用;强制公共研究成果开放共享;鼓励教职员工和学生创业等。借鉴这些国家的成功经验,我国应:完善成果转化利益分配机制;完善应用型研究机构的考核评价机制;加大公共研究成果的开放共享;加大创业教育,培育高校学生的创业意识;用好专利基金等知识产权工具,使公共研究得到最大化的利用。     

Charter school quality and parental decision making with school choice

Charter schools have become a very popular instrument for reforming public schools, because they expand choices, facilitate local innovation, and provide incentives for the regular public schools while remaining under public control. Despite their conceptual appeal, analysis has been hindered by the selective nature of their student populations. This paper investigates the quality of charter schools in Texas in terms of mathematics and reading achievement and finds that average school quality in the charter sector is not significantly different from that in regular public schools after an initial start-up period but that there is considerable heterogeneity. Perhaps more important for policy, however, is the finding that the parental decision to exit a charter school is significantly related to school quality. The magnitude of this relationship is substantially larger than the relationship between the probability of exit and quality in the regular public school sector and consistent with the notion that the introduction of charter schools substantially reduces the transactions costs of switching schools.     

人才头衔能否提升科技人才职业成就动机——来自我国一流大学建设高校的证据

职业成就动机是提升个体创新能力和促进创新行为的核心要素，由国家各类人才资助计划催生的人才头衔能否进一步激励科技人才创新备受关注。依据成就动机理论和综合激励理论，建立人才头衔、职业成就动机与创新成果产出关系理论模型，采用倾向得分匹配方法，对14所一流大学建设高校的抽样调查数据进行分析，验证人才头衔与职业成就动机的关系。研究发现，我国一流大学建设高校科技人才的成就动机普遍较高，人才头衔对科技人才成就取向、努力取向、专业充实取向和社会责任取向维度的职业成就动机具有显著提升作用。最后，提出完善国家人才资助计划体系、处理人才头衔与人才考核关系、发挥人才头衔对科技人才的正向激励作用等对策建议。