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The Role of Small Firms in the Technology Development of China

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  • Fredrik Sjöholm
  • Nannan Lundin

Abstract

Science & Technology (S&T) is high on the Chinese policy agenda and the country aims at becoming an innovation‐driven economy. Small firms have been important in technology development in other East Asian countries but the situation in Chinese small firms has been far less explored. We examine how much S&T has been accounted for by small firms and how their S&T intensity differs across industries and ownership groups. We also analyse how various firm characteristics differ over size categories and S&T status. This study is based on newly processed micro‐level data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics with information on a large number of S&T indicators for manufacturing firms in China in 2000 and 2004. Our results suggest that the role of small firms in Chinese S&T is similar to that in many other countries. They account for a comparably small share of total S&T and most small firms are not engaged in any S&T. However, those small firms that do engage in S&T tend to be more S&T intensive and have a higher output in terms of patents than larger Chinese S&T firms.

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  • Fredrik Sjöholm & Nannan Lundin, 2010. "The Role of Small Firms in the Technology Development of China," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(9), pages 1117-1139, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:worlde:v:33:y:2010:i:9:p:1117-1139
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9701.2010.01282.x
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    Cited by:

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    4. Sumanjeet Singh, 2018. "The State of IP protection, Exploitation and Valuation: Evidence from Select Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 4(2), pages 159-176, July.
    5. Vinod Mishra & Russell Smyth, 2014. "Technological Change and Wages in China: Evidence from Matched Employer–Employee Data," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 123-138, February.
    6. Falentina, Anna T. & Resosudarmo, Budy P., 2019. "The impact of blackouts on the performance of micro and small enterprises: Evidence from Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 1-1.
    7. Longzheng Du & Zhenglin Zhang & Taiwen Feng, 2018. "Linking green customer and supplier integration with green innovation performance: The role of internal integration," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1583-1595, December.
    8. Yongtao Song & Taiwen Feng & Wenbo Jiang, 2017. "The Influence of Green External Integration on Firm Performance: Does Firm Size Matter?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-18, August.

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