IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/respol/v44y2015i1p273-282.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of government financial incentives on firms’ innovation performance in China: Evidences from Beijing in the 1990s

Author

Listed:
  • Guan, JianCheng
  • Yam, Richard C.M.

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of Chinese government financial incentives on firms’ innovation performance during the nation's initial economic transition period in the mid-1990s. Through a large-scale empirical survey of more than 1000 Chinese manufacturing firms, the empirical evidences show that whereas the major government financial incentives such as Special Loans and Tax Credits were positively influential to innovative economic performance of firms, Direct Earmarks not only failed to enhance innovative economic performance, it sometimes negatively affected it. Surprisingly, the findings show that all financial incentives of governments were unrelated to the patents of either high-tech or general firms and Direct Earmarks affected the patents of these firms negatively, although not to a significant degree. This indicates that the centrally planned funding system of the 1990s was ineffective for enhancing technological progress for Chinese manufacturing firms. The study results imply that the Chinese government should further increase the role of market force in its reforms. A more market-driven model by developing more S&T initiatives to match the strategic directions of different enterprises, particularly SOEs, is recommended.

Suggested Citation

  • Guan, JianCheng & Yam, Richard C.M., 2015. "Effects of government financial incentives on firms’ innovation performance in China: Evidences from Beijing in the 1990s," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 273-282.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:44:y:2015:i:1:p:273-282
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2014.09.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048733314001577
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.respol.2014.09.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chen, Kaihua & Guan, Jiancheng, 2011. "Mapping the functionality of China's regional innovation systems: A structural approach," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 11-27, March.
    2. Lucy Firth & David Mellor, 1999. "The Impact of Regulation on Innovation," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 199-205, November.
    3. Autant-Bernard, Corinne & Fadairo, Muriel & Massard, Nadine, 2013. "Knowledge diffusion and innovation policies within the European regions: Challenges based on recent empirical evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 196-210.
    4. Ernst, Holger, 2001. "Patent applications and subsequent changes of performance: evidence from time-series cross-section analyses on the firm level," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 143-157, January.
    5. Guan, Jiancheng & Chen, Kaihua, 2012. "Modeling the relative efficiency of national innovation systems," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 102-115.
    6. repec:fth:harver:1473 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Archibugi, Daniele & Cesaratto, Sergio & Sirilli, Giorgio, 1991. "Sources of innovative activities and industrial organization in Italy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 299-313, August.
    8. Pavitt, K. & Walker, W., 1976. "Government policies towards industrial innovation: a review," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 11-97, January.
    9. Liu, Feng-chao & Simon, Denis Fred & Sun, Yu-tao & Cao, Cong, 2011. "China's innovation policies: Evolution, institutional structure, and trajectory," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(7), pages 917-931, September.
    10. Guan, Jiancheng & Ma, Nan, 2007. "China's emerging presence in nanoscience and nanotechnology: A comparative bibliometric study of several nanoscience `giants'," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 880-886, July.
    11. Kim, Linsu, 1980. "Organizational innovation and structure," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 225-245, June.
    12. Zoltan J. Acs & Luc Anselin & Attila Varga, 2008. "Patents and Innovation Counts as Measures of Regional Production of New Knowledge," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 11, pages 135-151, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Ernst, Dieter & Kim, Linsu, 2002. "Global production networks, knowledge diffusion, and local capability formation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(8-9), pages 1417-1429, December.
    14. Liu, Xielin & White, Steven, 2001. "Comparing innovation systems: a framework and application to China's transitional context," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 1091-1114, August.
    15. Lemola, Tarmo, 2002. "Convergence of national science and technology policies: the case of Finland," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(8-9), pages 1481-1490, December.
    16. Kim, Yee Kyoung & Lee, Keun & Park, Walter G. & Choo, Kineung, 2012. "Appropriate intellectual property protection and economic growth in countries at different levels of development," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 358-375.
    17. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Patent Statistics as Economic Indicators: A Survey," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 287-343, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Mustar, Philippe & Laredo, Philippe, 2002. "Innovation and research policy in France (1980-2000) or the disappearance of the Colbertist state," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 55-72, January.
    19. Fan, Peilei & Watanabe, Chihiro, 2006. "Promoting industrial development through technology policy: Lessons from Japan and China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 303-320.
    20. Kaihua Chen & Jiancheng Guan, 2012. "Measuring the Efficiency of China's Regional Innovation Systems: Application of Network Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(3), pages 355-377, April.
    21. Furman, Jeffrey L. & Porter, Michael E. & Stern, Scott, 2002. "The determinants of national innovative capacity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 899-933, August.
    22. Gregory G. Dess, 1987. "Consensus on strategy formulation and organizational performance: Competitors in a fragmented industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(3), pages 259-277, May.
    23. Coombs, R. & Narandren, P. & Richards, A., 1996. "A literature-based innovation output indicator," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 403-413, May.
    24. GUAN, Jian Cheng & YAM, Richard C.M. & Tang, Esther P.Y. & Lau, Antonio K.W., 2009. "Innovation strategy and performance during economic transition: Evidences in Beijing, China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 802-812, June.
    25. Jiancheng Guan & Kairui Zuo, 2014. "A cross-country comparison of innovation efficiency," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 100(2), pages 541-575, August.
    26. Storey, D. J. & Tether, B. S., 1998. "Public policy measures to support new technology-based firms in the European Union," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(9), pages 1037-1057, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Proksch, Dorian & Haberstroh, Marcus Max & Pinkwart, Andreas, 2017. "Increasing the national innovative capacity: Identifying the pathways to success using a comparative method," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 256-270.
    2. Shi, Xing & Wu, Yanrui & Fu, Dahai, 2020. "Does University-Industry collaboration improve innovation efficiency? Evidence from Chinese Firms⋄," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 39-53.
    3. Xiafei Chen & Zhiying Liu & Chaoliang Ma, 2017. "Chinese innovation-driving factors: regional structure, innovation effect, and economic development—empirical research based on panel data," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 59(1), pages 43-68, July.
    4. Li, Xibao, 2011. "Sources of External Technology, Absorptive Capacity, and Innovation Capability in Chinese State-Owned High-Tech Enterprises," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 1240-1248, July.
    5. Rakas, Marija & Hain, Daniel S., 2019. "The state of innovation system research: What happens beneath the surface?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    6. Li, Xibao, 2009. "China's regional innovation capacity in transition: An empirical approach," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 338-357, March.
    7. Lau, Antonio K.W. & Lo, William, 2015. "Regional innovation system, absorptive capacity and innovation performance: An empirical study," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 99-114.
    8. Wang, Zhaoxing & He, Qile & Xia, Senmao & Sarpong, David & Xiong, Ailun & Maas, Gideon, 2020. "Capacities of business incubator and regional innovation performance," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    9. Jiancheng Guan & Kairui Zuo, 2014. "A cross-country comparison of innovation efficiency," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 100(2), pages 541-575, August.
    10. Jiao, Hao & Zhou, Jianghua & Gao, Taishan & Liu, Xielin, 2016. "The more interactions the better? The moderating effect of the interaction between local producers and users of knowledge on the relationship between R&D investment and regional innovation systems," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 13-20.
    11. Zhao, S.L. & Cacciolatti, L. & Lee, S.H. & Song, W., 2015. "Regional collaborations and indigenous innovation capabilities in China: A multivariate method for the analysis of regional innovation systems," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 202-220.
    12. Michele Capriati & Marialuisa Divella, 2017. "Why growth rates differ? Path of innovation in Italian provinces," Working Papers 1702, c.MET-05 - Centro Interuniversitario di Economia Applicata alle Politiche per L'industria, lo Sviluppo locale e l'Internazionalizzazione.
    13. Chen, Ping-Chuan & Hung, Shiu-Wan, 2016. "An actor-network perspective on evaluating the R&D linking efficiency of innovation ecosystems," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 303-312.
    14. Dziallas, Marisa & Blind, Knut, 2019. "Innovation indicators throughout the innovation process: An extensive literature analysis," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 80, pages 3-29.
    15. Varga, Attila, 2004. "Az egyetemi kutatások regionális gazdasági hatásai a nemzetközi szakirodalom tükrében [Regional economic effects of university researches in the light of international literature]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(3), pages 259-275.
    16. Robert Huggins & Hiro Izushi, 2009. "Regional Benchmarking in a Global Context: Knowledge, Competitiveness, and Economic Development," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 23(4), pages 275-293, November.
    17. Varga, Attila & Sebestyén, Tamás, 2015. "Innováció Kelet-Közép-Európában. Az EU keretprogramjaiban való részvétel szerepe az innovációs teljesítményben [Innovation in Central East Europe. The role played in innovation performance by parti," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(9), pages 881-908.
    18. Zhao, Chuanmin & Qu, Xi & Luo, Shougui, 2019. "Impact of the InnoCom program on corporate innovation performance in China: Evidence from Shanghai," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 103-118.
    19. Jaeho Shin & Changhee Kim & Hongsuk Yang, 2019. "Does Reduction of Material and Energy Consumption Affect to Innovation Efficiency? The Case of Manufacturing Industry in South Korea," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-14, March.
    20. Fagerberg, Jan & Srholec, Martin & Verspagen, Bart, 2010. "Innovation and Economic Development," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 833-872, Elsevier.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:44:y:2015:i:1:p:273-282. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/respol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.