Firm ownership,industrial structure,and regional innovation performance in China's provinces

This paper uses panel data between 2000 and 2010 to explore how firm ownership and regional industrial structures contribute to regional innovation performance in Chinese provinces. Specifically, we explore how the extent of specialisation and diversification in regional industrial structures at the province level fosters both Marshall–Arrow–Romer and Jacobs spillovers, as well as how foreign and state ownership influence regional innovation. We find: (i) China's regional innovation systems benefit from Jacobs but not MAR externalities, with the former spurring higher quality innovation in the form of increased invention patenting; (ii) state-owned enterprises and foreign-invested enterprises advance local innovation, with the latter again fostering higher quality innovation; and (iii) a convergence towards a combination of low specialisation and high diversity in provincial industrial structure is taking place between China's more developed inland coastal provinces and less developed inland provinces. Implications and suggestions for policy-making and future research are discussed.     

Knowledge spillovers through FDI and trade: the moderating role of quality-adjusted human capital

The paper extends the findings of the Coe and Helpman (Eur Econ Rev 39(5):859-887, 1995) model of R&D spillovers by considering foreign direct investment (FDI) as a channel for knowledge spillovers in addition to imports. Deeper insights on the issue are provided by examining the inter-relationship between knowledge spillovers from imports and inward FDI. Furthermore, human capital is added to the discussion as one of the appropriability factors for knowledge spillovers, with special focus on its quality-content, using journal publications and patent applications. Applying cointegration estimation method on 20 European countries from 1995 to 2010, the direct effects of FDI-related as well as import-related spillovers on domestic productivity are confirmed. Furthermore, a strong complementary relationship is found between knowledge spillovers through the channels of imports and inward FDI. When considering quality-adjusted human capital, countries with better human capital are found to benefit not only from direct productivity effects, but also from absorption and transmission of international knowledge spillovers through imports and inward FDI. Finally, technological distance with the frontier does not appear to play a role in the absorption of import and FDI related knowledge spillovers.     

数字经济产业园区企业网络嵌入、数字化能力与开放式创新

以社会网络理论、动态能力理论等为理论基础,研究数字经济产业园区企业网络嵌入对开放式创新的影响。研究发现：网络嵌入显著正向影响数字经济产业园区企业开放式创新。机制分析表明,网络嵌入通过影响数字化能力进而提升数字经济产业园区企业开放式创新水平。进一步讨论发现,网络嵌入的子维度关系性网络嵌入对数字化能力的三个子维度数字感知能力、数字化运营能力、数字资源协同能力具有显著的正向影响;网络嵌入的子维度结构性网络嵌入对数字化能力的子维度数字感知能力和数字化运营能力具有显著的正向影响,但对数字资源整合能力的影响并不显著。本文对于数字经济产业园区构建协同共生网络生态,提高园区企业网络嵌入程度,进而培育和构建数字化能力,提高区域开放式创新水平提供了理论基础和一定的实践指导。     

Service innovation and the proximity-concentration trade-off model of trade and FDI

This paper introduces service innovation in the proximity-concentration trade-off model of trade and foreign direct investments (FDI) [Helpman, E., M. Melitz, and S. R. Yeaple 2004 Helpman, E., M. Melitz, and S. R. Yeaple. 2004. “Export Versus FDI with Heterogeneous Firms.” American Economic Review 94 (1): 300–316. doi: 10.1257/000282804322970814[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. “Export Versus FDI with Heterogeneous Firms.” American Economic Review 94 (1): 300–316]. The idea is that innovation will have two main effects on service firms’ choice between exports and FDI. First, innovative firms will on average have higher productivity levels than non-innovative enterprises. Secondly, innovators will have to pay a higher relational distance cost for undertaking export activities, and they will, therefore, prefer to avoid (or reduce) these costs by choosing an FDI strategy instead. We test the empirical relevance of this idea on a new survey data set for a representative sample of firms in all business service sectors in Norway. The results show that firms are more likely to choose FDI rather than export the greater their productivity level and the higher the relational distance costs they face.     

The effect of external partner heterogeneity on open innovation: the moderating role of the technological regime

There is widespread agreement that open innovation (OI) is strongly influenced by external partner heterogeneity. While previous studies have examined partner heterogeneity using quantitative analysis, the implications of a weighted assignment using an external partner heterogeneity index have received less attention. The purpose of this study is to develop a modified partner heterogeneity model. Specifically, using a questionnaire survey of Chinese firms, we develop a new method to measure partner organisational heterogeneity (POH). Then, the moderating factors of an industry's technological environment, termed the technological regime, are introduced. The empirical analysis shows that the technological regime is positively correlated with POH and OI performance. Hence, an advanced technological regime improves POH and OI performance by incorporating external resources and increasing innovation potential.     

Users and radical innovation performance: the moderating role of the organisational context

This study investigates four key factors of the internal organisational context that moderate the relationship between connecting with users and radical innovation performance: performance management, autonomy, internal networking and organisation and culture to support innovation. These components define a firm's organisational context. A sample of Austrian- and Italian-based firms shows that the connecting with users–radical innovation performance relationship is amplified at higher levels of all the investigated elements of the organisational context. The authors discuss the study's implications as well as future research directions.     

广义虚拟经济视角下农业领域FDI的技术溢出

以广义虚拟经济视角观察我国农业领域外商直接投资（FDI）活动,可以发现,FDI效应分为物质态表现形式与信息态表现形式。对FDI信息态的有效利用,不仅与东道国的经济发展水平有关,而且与科研人员积极性以及创新能力有关。本文基于我国1999-2011年的省际面板数据,利用负二项回归模型分析我国农业领域外商直接投资（FDI）的技术溢出效应,并利用面板数据的非线性门槛效应模型,分析我国农业领域FDI技术溢出差别的条件,结果表明只有科研人员积极性以及自主创新能力达到一定水平,FDI的信息态才是可吸收的。     

The role of top management team diversity in shaping the performance of business model innovation: a threshold effect

Business model innovation is one of the firm’s most important strategic decisions. Top management team (TMT), as the critical decision-makers, has essential influence upon such decisions. However, the role of TMT diversity in shaping the performance of business model innovation is less explored in the literature. Based on a sample dataset of 906 observations of small and medium enterprises from China Startups Stock Market during the period of 2009–2011, we find that TMT diversity exhibits a significant threshold effect on the relationship between business model innovation (in terms of novelty-centred and efficiency-centred business model) and firm performance. More specifically, when TMT functional diversity arrives at a certain level, the positive relationship between novelty-centred business model and firm performance becomes more pronounced. On the other hand, the positive relationship between efficiency-centred business model innovation and firm performance will be more significant when TMT tenure diversity increases to a certain level.     

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.     

Knowledge externalities,innovation and growth in European countries: the role of institutions

This paper provides an empirical analysis of the linkages between institutions and economic growth in the European context and highlights innovation as the intermediate variable that drives this interplay. Building on the literature in the evolutionary approach to the economics of innovation and in the economic growth theory with a political economic perspective, we assume that knowledge externalities can fully take place where institutions guarantee a level playing field in the access to knowledge. We estimate the effects of a set of relevant institutional variables on the growth rate of technological knowledge and per capita GDP for a sample of European countries. The empirical analysis confirms that institutions that tend to equalise opportunities to innovate significantly amplify the impact of an exogenous increase in the knowledge base on the growth rate of per capita GDP.     

中国与印度利用FDI的科技创新效果比较研究

利用FDI过程中研发国际化对东道国创新体系的结构与绩效也产生了较为明显的影响,而研发国际化的技术外溢取决于研发的类型与东道国的经济、科技等背景。通过中印两国在利用FDI促进本国科技创新方面的比较发现：中国利用FDI资源特别是在外资研发机构及其研发支出方面明显强于印度;中国在吸收FDI技术溢出的研发投入、硬件条件等方面较明显优于印度;中国是开放度很高的＂外资带动＂型的创新路径,而印度更偏向于＂自主创新＂型的发展模式;制约中国自主创新还存在一些亟待破解的深层障碍。     

Regional innovation environment and innovation efficiency: the Chinese case

The main goal of this paper is to analyse the connotation of ‘regional innovation environment’ and explore the relationships between the regional innovation environmental components and innovation efficiency (IE). Three regional environmental factors were extracted, namely, economic infrastructure (EI), the quality and structure of innovators (QSI) and regional openness (RO). The relationships between the regional innovation environmental components and innovation efficiency present a chain structure as RO–EI–QSI–IE. Only the QSI component affects IE directly, and all of the effects are positive. Based on these results, the characteristics of Chinese regional innovation systems were analysed, and the implications on science & technology policy were discussed.     

Understanding the disruptive business model innovation of E-business microcredit: a comparative case study in China

This paper uses an in-depth case study approach to compare and analyze e-business microcredit firms and traditional bank business models in China, employing a business model template redefined as an analytical tool. The results suggest that the EMF business model has typical disruptive innovation characteristics, shedding new light on the definition and criteria of disruptive business model innovation as little research has done on its systematic analysis. This study also presents a holistic conceptual framework for four triggers constituting their business model difference, inclusive of non-mainstream customer positioning, inclusive platform-based infrastructure, platform-based leveraged capability, and user experience-centered value proposition.     

Knowledge sharing and firm performance: the role of social networking site and innovation capability

This study developed a framework to explore SNSs' capability as a strategic platform from which firms can overcome environmental turbulence and develop higher level knowledge sharing and firm performance output. The moderating effects of two types of innovation capability, product development capability and operational capability, were taken into consideration. We propose that SNSs' capability paired with strong product development capability is the key to improving knowledge sharing performance. SNSs' capability paired with strong operational capability can improve firm performance by advancing incremental innovation processes. Drawing upon the literature regarding information systems, knowledge management, and firm innovation, we propose a conceptual model adopted from the environment-strategy-performance framework to explore how these key factors interact to determine the fate of a firm.     

基于竞争态模型的中国FDI引进格局分析与战略选择

将竞争态模型引入FDI研究,并以2000--2009年中国外资利用情况进行实证。结果显示：①竞争态是分析外资引进变化趋势和特征的有效方法,能深人把握外资引进目标地的时空结构特征,有利于政府决策;②长期以来,中国外资引进竞争态格局结构基本健全,类型分布虽不理想但日趋合理,外资引进重心稳定于亚太地区和美国等;③未来中国外资引进目标地分为三级,第一级定位于亚太地区的香港、韩国、日本、新加坡、台湾和俄罗斯等,应将收获性和开拓性战略并举;第二级定位于美国和加拿大等发达北美洲国家,应实施扩张性战略;第三级定位于英、法、德、意、瑞士、瑞典、丹麦和荷兰等欧洲发达国家,应实施选择性战略;关于非洲国家外资引入,除政治因素外应采取撤退性战略。     

外商直接投资和经济增长的关系研究

理论研究普遍认为外商直接投资对经济增长产生了积极的影响,但对外商直接投资如何影响新兴工业化国家的发展过程的具体机制却研究甚少。本文从新兴工业化国家的视角提出并验证了有关外商直接投资对经济增长作用的两个假设:(1)外商直接投资有利于减小国内生产的非效率,是提高生产技术效率的推动器;(2)外商直接投资有利于加快国内技术进步,是生产前沿的移动器。因为这种双重作用,所以外商直接投资是新兴工业化国家赶超世界发达国家的一个重要因素。中国过去几十年经济快速的发展为验证这两个假设提供了一个理想的范例。     

Knowledge resources and innovation performance: the mediation of innovation capability moderated by management commitment

This paper examines the process that links knowledge resources to innovation performance. We propose that this relationship is mediated by innovation capability and that management commitment moderates this mediation effect. To measure innovation performance, we create an indicator that summarises the impact of innovation activities on products, processes and sustainability. The sample comprises 9432 firms in different sectors included in the Community Innovation Survey (CIS). The results confirm that knowledge resources not only have a direct positive effect on innovation performance but also an indirect effect by improving the firm's innovation capability. We also confirm the moderating role of management commitment, but with limitations. This research, therefore, throws light on how firms can leverage their knowledge resources to gain a competitive advantage based on innovation.     

Knowledge search modes and innovation performance: The moderating role of strategic R&D orientation

Prior studies implicitly assume that knowledge search modes are homogeneous, and little is known about the impacts of specific search modes on innovation. Drawing upon the knowledge search literature, we differentiate among four types of search modes and analyze their impacts on innovation performance. Moreover, we enrich the theoretical framework by recognising the moderating role of strategic R&D orientation in affecting the relationship between specific types of search modes and innovation performance. Using a unique dataset of 418 Chinese firms, we find that, except for inward licensing, value chain search, capital search, and industry-university-research institute collaboration (IUR collaboration) exert positive effects on innovation performance. Moreover, the empirical results indicate that a strategic R&D orientation amplifies the positive effects of value chain search and IUR collaboration while it mitigates the negative effect of inward licensing on innovation performance.     

Innovation and knowledge-intensive business service: the contribution of knowledge-intensive business service to innovation in manufacturing establishments

It is well established that knowledge-intensive business service (KIBS) firms can be innovators in their own right. It is also well established that KIBS can contribute to innovation in their client firms. This role of KIBS has been theorised, and some of the processes by which KIBS contribute to innovation have been scrutinised by way of case studies. However, there are few, if any, large-scale analyses that permit the two following questions to be addressed: (i) Do firms that use KIBS systematically introduce more innovations than those that do not? (ii) Is recourse to certain types of KIBS associated with certain types of innovation? Our survey of KIBS use across 804 manufacturing establishments in Quebec shows that KIBS contribute to their client's innovation – thereby confirming in a more general way what has been observed in case studies – but also that different types of KIBS contribute to different types of innovation.     

中国服务业吸引国际直接投资的现状与对策:基于1998年～2003年经验数据的分析

通过实证分析发现,中国服务业吸引外资的增长速度明显高于其他产业,从而有望取代制造业成为中国未来吸引外资的主要领域。因此,进一步提升国内服务业产业结构、加强国内引资环境建设、改善服务业吸引国际直接投资基础、提高国内服务消费水平等以更加有利于中国服务业利用外资,应该成为今后中国服务业利用外资的主要对策。