IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/respol/v47y2018i1p108-120.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The distinct signaling effects of R&D subsidy and non-R&D subsidy on IPO performance of IT entrepreneurial firms in China

Author

Listed:
  • Chen, Jin
  • Heng, Cheng Suang
  • Tan, Bernard C.Y.
  • Lin, Zhijie

Abstract

This study investigates how R&D subsidy and non-R&D subsidy affect entrepreneurial firms’ initial public offering (IPO) performance in an emerging economy like China. Analyzing data from 269 IT (information technology) entrepreneurial firms in China, we found that R&D subsidy has an inverted U-shape effect on IPO performance, while non-R&D subsidy has a positive effect on IPO performance. Furthermore, both state ownership and patent intensity moderate the inverted U-shape relationship between R&D subsidy and IPO performance. In contrast, neither of them moderates the positive relationship between non-R&D subsidy and IPO performance. These findings contribute to the literature on the effectiveness of government subsidy by highlighting the symbolic effect of government subsidy on external financing in emerging economies, and offer important practical implications to entrepreneurial firms and government funding agencies in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Jin & Heng, Cheng Suang & Tan, Bernard C.Y. & Lin, Zhijie, 2018. "The distinct signaling effects of R&D subsidy and non-R&D subsidy on IPO performance of IT entrepreneurial firms in China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 108-120.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:47:y:2018:i:1:p:108-120
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2017.10.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004873331730166X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.respol.2017.10.004?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. José Albors-Garrigos & José L. Hervas-Oliver, 2011. "Making sense of innovation by R&D and non-R&D innovators in low technology contexts: a forgotten lesson for policymakers," Working Papers. Serie EC 2011-06, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    2. Ilya Okhmatovskiy, 2010. "Performance Implications of Ties to the Government and SOEs: A Political Embeddedness Perspective," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(6), pages 1020-1047, September.
    3. Piotroski, Joseph D. & Zhang, Tianyu, 2014. "Politicians and the IPO decision: The impact of impending political promotions on IPO activity in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(1), pages 111-136.
    4. Fan, Joseph P.H. & Wong, T.J. & Zhang, Tianyu, 2007. "Politically connected CEOs, corporate governance, and Post-IPO performance of China's newly partially privatized firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 330-357, May.
    5. Mike W. Peng & Justin Tan & Tony W. Tong, 2004. "Ownership Types and Strategic Groups in an Emerging Economy," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(7), pages 1105-1129, November.
    6. Chan, Kalok & Wang, Junbo & Wei, K. C. John, 2004. "Underpricing and long-term performance of IPOs in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 409-430, June.
    7. Paraskevopoulou, Evita, 2012. "Non-technological regulatory effects: Implications for innovation and innovation policy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1058-1071.
    8. Guo, Di & Guo, Yan & Jiang, Kun, 2016. "Government-subsidized R&D and firm innovation: Evidence from China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(6), pages 1129-1144.
    9. Czarnitzki, Dirk & Hanel, Petr & Rosa, Julio Miguel, 2011. "Evaluating the impact of R&D tax credits on innovation: A microeconometric study on Canadian firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 217-229, March.
    10. Robert M. Solow, 1994. "Perspectives on Growth Theory," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 45-54, Winter.
    11. Xulia González & Jordi Jaumandreu & Consuelo Pazo, 2005. "Barriers to Innovation and Subsidy Effectiveness," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(4), pages 930-949, Winter.
    12. Feldman, Maryann P. & Kelley, Maryellen R., 2006. "The ex ante assessment of knowledge spillovers: Government R&D policy, economic incentives and private firm behavior," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 1509-1521, December.
    13. Kenneth Arrow, 1962. "Economic Welfare and the Allocation of Resources for Invention," NBER Chapters, in: The Rate and Direction of Inventive Activity: Economic and Social Factors, pages 609-626, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Tuomas Takalo & Tanja Tanayama, 2010. "Adverse selection and financing of innovation: is there a need for R&D subsidies?," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 16-41, February.
    15. Terza, Joseph V. & Basu, Anirban & Rathouz, Paul J., 2008. "Two-stage residual inclusion estimation: Addressing endogeneity in health econometric modeling," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 531-543, May.
    16. Brouwer, Erik & Kleinknecht, Alfred, 1997. "Measuring the unmeasurable: a country's non-R&D expenditure on product and service innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(8), pages 1235-1242, January.
    17. Klette, Tor Jakob & Moen, Jarle & Griliches, Zvi, 2000. "Do subsidies to commercial R&D reduce market failures? Microeconometric evaluation studies1," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(4-5), pages 471-495, April.
    18. David, Paul A. & Hall, Bronwyn H. & Toole, Andrew A., 2000. "Is public R&D a complement or substitute for private R&D? A review of the econometric evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(4-5), pages 497-529, April.
    19. Dirk Czarnitzki & Andrew Toole, 2007. "Business R&D and the Interplay of R&D Subsidies and Product Market Uncertainty," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 31(3), pages 169-181, November.
    20. Lee, You-Na & Walsh, John P., 2016. "Inventing while you work: Knowledge, non-R&D learning and innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 345-359.
    21. Katrin Hussinger, 2008. "R&D and subsidies at the firm level: an application of parametric and semiparametric two-step selection models," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(6), pages 729-747.
    22. Jianfeng Wu & Sali Li & Zijie Li, 2013. "The contingent value of CEO political connections: A study on IPO performance in China," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 30(4), pages 1087-1114, December.
    23. Richard F. J. Haans & Constant Pieters & Zi-Lin He, 2016. "Thinking about U: Theorizing and testing U- and inverted U-shaped relationships in strategy research," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(7), pages 1177-1195, July.
    24. Dodgson, Mark & Hughes, Alan & Foster, John & Metcalfe, Stan, 2011. "Systems thinking, market failure, and the development of innovation policy: The case of Australia," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(9), pages 1145-1156.
    25. Cumming, Douglas, 2007. "Government policy towards entrepreneurial finance: Innovation investment funds," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 193-235, March.
    26. Baum, Joel A. C. & Silverman, Brian S., 2004. "Picking winners or building them? Alliance, intellectual, and human capital as selection criteria in venture financing and performance of biotechnology startups," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 411-436, May.
    27. Czarnitzki, Dirk & Kraft, Kornelius, 2004. "Innovation indicators and corporate credit ratings: evidence from German firms," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 82(3), pages 377-384, March.
    28. Michela Bia & Alessandra Mattei, 2008. "A Stata package for the estimation of the dose–response function through adjustment for the generalized propensity score," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 8(3), pages 354-373, September.
    29. Lichtenberg, Frank R, 1987. "The Effect of Government Funding on Private Industrial Research and Development: A Re-assessment," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(1), pages 97-104, September.
    30. Dimos, Christos & Pugh, Geoff, 2016. "The effectiveness of R&D subsidies: A meta-regression analysis of the evaluation literature," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 797-815.
    31. Christoph Grimpe & Katrin Hussinger, 2014. "Resource complementarity and value capture in firm acquisitions: The role of intellectual property rights," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(12), pages 1762-1780, December.
    32. Richard R. Nelson, 1959. "The Simple Economics of Basic Scientific Research," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 67(3), pages 297-297.
    33. Chang, Sea Jin, 2004. "Venture capital financing, strategic alliances, and the initial public offerings of Internet startups," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 721-741, September.
    34. Huang, Can & Arundel, Anthony & Hollanders, Hugo, 2010. "How Firms Innovate: R&D, Non-R&D, and Technology Adoption," Working Papers 9854, University of Tasmania, Tasmanian School of Business and Economics, revised 19 Nov 2012.
    35. Sabrina T. Howell, 2017. "Financing Innovation: Evidence from R&D Grants," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(4), pages 1136-1164, April.
    36. Busom, Isabel & Fernández-Ribas, Andrea, 2008. "The impact of firm participation in R&D programmes on R&D partnerships," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 240-257, March.
    37. Lopez-Rodriguez, Jesus & Martinez-Lopez, Diego, 2017. "Looking beyond the R&D effects on innovation: The contribution of non-R&D activities to total factor productivity growth in the EU," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 37-45.
    38. Marshall W. Meyer & Xiaohui Lu, 2004. "Managing Indefinite Boundaries: The Strategy and Structure of a Chinese Business Firm," Management and Organization Review, International Association of Chinese Management Research, vol. 1(1), pages 57-86, June.
    39. Kleer, Robin, 2010. "Government R&D subsidies as a signal for private investors," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1361-1374, December.
    40. Alberto Marzucchi & Davide Antonioli & Sandro Montresor, 2015. "Industry–research co-operation within and across regional boundaries. What does innovation policy add?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(3), pages 499-524, August.
    41. Meuleman, Miguel & De Maeseneire, Wouter, 2012. "Do R&D subsidies affect SMEs’ access to external financing?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 580-591.
    42. Clarysse, Bart & Wright, Mike & Mustar, Philippe, 2009. "Behavioural additionality of R&D subsidies: A learning perspective," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 1517-1533, December.
    43. Lerner, Josh, 1999. "The Government as Venture Capitalist: The Long-Run Impact of the SBIR Program," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 72(3), pages 285-318, July.
    44. Zattoni,Alessandro & Judge,William (ed.), 2012. "Corporate Governance and Initial Public Offerings," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107016866, November.
    45. Boeing, Philipp, 2016. "The allocation and effectiveness of China’s R&D subsidies - Evidence from listed firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(9), pages 1774-1789.
    46. Santamara, Llus & Nieto, Mara Jess & Barge-Gil, Andrs, 2009. "Beyond formal R&D: Taking advantage of other sources of innovation in low- and medium-technology industries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 507-517, April.
    47. Chen, Donghua & Guan, Yuyan & Zhang, Tianyu & Zhao, Gang, 2017. "Political connection of financial intermediaries: Evidence from China's IPO market," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 15-31.
    48. Scott J. Wallsten, 2000. "The Effects of Government-Industry R&D Programs on Private R&D: The Case of the Small Business Innovation Research Program," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 31(1), pages 82-100, Spring.
    49. Flor, M. L. & Oltra, M. J., 2004. "Identification of innovating firms through technological innovation indicators: an application to the Spanish ceramic tile industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 323-336, March.
    50. Frank T. Rothaermel & Andrew M. Hess, 2007. "Building Dynamic Capabilities: Innovation Driven by Individual-, Firm-, and Network-Level Effects," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(6), pages 898-921, December.
    51. Pitkethly, Robert H., 2001. "Intellectual property strategy in Japanese and UK companies: patent licensing decisions and learning opportunities," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 425-442, March.
    52. Michael Spence, 1973. "Job Market Signaling," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 87(3), pages 355-374.
    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. Wang, Yanbo & Li, Jizhen & Furman, Jeffrey L., 2017. "Firm performance and state innovation funding: Evidence from China’s innofund program," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(6), pages 1142-1161.
    2. Shuang Wang & Shukuan Zhao & Dong Shao & Hongyu Liu, 2020. "Impact of Government Subsidies on Manufacturing Innovation in China: The Moderating Role of Political Connections and Investor Attention," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-21, September.
    3. Thomas H. W. Ziesemer, 2021. "The Effects of R&D Subsidies and Publicly Performed R&D on Business R&D: A Survey," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 236(1), pages 171-205, March.
    4. José Ángel Zúñiga-Vicente & César Alonso-Borrego & Francisco J. Forcadell & José I. Galán, 2014. "Assessing The Effect Of Public Subsidies On Firm R&D Investment: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 36-67, February.
    5. Bianchi, Mattia & Murtinu, Samuele & Scalera, Vittoria G., 2019. "R&D Subsidies as Dual Signals in Technological Collaborations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    6. Silva Filipe & Carreira Carlos, 2017. "Financial Constraints: Do They Matter to Allocate R&D Subsidies?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(4), pages 1-26, October.
    7. Kiman Kim & Sang Ok Choi & Sooyeon Lee, 2021. "The Effect of a Financial Support on Firm Innovation Collaboration and Output: Does Policy Work on the Diverse Nature of Firm Innovation?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(2), pages 645-675, June.
    8. Pietro Santoleri & Andrea Mina & Alberto Di Minin & Irene Martelli, 2024. "The Causal Effects of R&D Grants: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1495-1510, November.
    9. Demeulemeester, Sarah & Hottenrott, Hanna, 2015. "R&D subsidies and firms' cost of debt," DICE Discussion Papers 201, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    10. Nadine Levratto & Aurelien Quignon, 2021. "Innovation Performance and the Signal Effect: Evidence from a European Program," Working Papers halshs-03466903, HAL.
    11. Bellucci, Andrea & Pennacchio, Luca & Zazzaro, Alberto, 2023. "Debt financing of SMEs: The certification role of R&D Subsidies," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    12. Carboni, Oliviero A., 2017. "The effect of public support on investment and R&D: An empirical evaluation on European manufacturing firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 282-295.
    13. Beck, Mathias & Junge, Martin & Kaiser, Ulrich, 2017. "Public Funding and Corporate Innovation," IZA Discussion Papers 11196, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Aurélien Quignon & Nadine Levratto, 2021. "Innovation Performance and the Signal Effect: Evidence from a European Program," EconomiX Working Papers 2021-34, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    15. Choi, Joonhwan & Lee, Jaegul, 2017. "Repairing the R&D market failure: Public R&D subsidy and the composition of private R&D," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(8), pages 1465-1478.
    16. Grilli, Luca & Murtinu, Samuele, 2018. "Selective subsidies, entrepreneurial founders' human capital, and access to R&D alliances," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(10), pages 1945-1963.
    17. Xing Shi & Yanrui Wu & Dahai Fu & Xiumei Guo & Huaqing Wu, 2019. "Effects of National Science and Technology Programs on Innovation in Chinese Firms," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 18(1), pages 207-236, Winter/Sp.
    18. Mayra Rebolledo & Joel Sandonís, 2012. "The effectiveness of R&D subsidies," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(8), pages 815-825, November.
    19. Takalo, Tuomas & Tanayama, Tanja & Toivanen, Otto, 2013. "Market failures and the additionality effects of public support to private R&D: Theory and empirical implications," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 634-642.
    20. Özçelik, Emre & Taymaz, Erol, 2008. "R&D support programs in developing countries: The Turkish experience," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 258-275, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    G32; H2; O32; O38; signaling effect; R&D subsidy; non-R&D subsidy; state ownership; patent intensity; IPO performance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:47:y:2018:i:1:p:108-120. 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.