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Do Government R&D Subsidies Cultivate Enterprises’ Voluntary National/Industry Standard-Setting for Sustainable Development?

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  • Xun Zhang

    (Business School, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China)

  • Meng Shi

    (Government School, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China)

  • Biao Xu

    (Government School, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China)

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of government subsidies for R&D on resource and environmental enterprises’ voluntary national/industry standard- (N/IS-) setting, which is critical to sustainable development. Based on innovation motivation and capability theory, we propose a research framework and hypothesis, using a panel dataset on 11,556 Chinese resource and environmental enterprises from 2011 to 2013 to test our hypotheses. We find that government subsidies for R&D have a U-shaped relationship with N/IS-setting for sustainable development. Moreover, we also find that state ownership, position in industry, and patent properties are contingency factors suggesting that non-state-owned enterprises, industry-following enterprises, or enterprises with more patents come up with N/IS-settings of significantly greater value than state-owned enterprises, leading enterprises, or enterprises with fewer patents. Endogeneity issues are addressed by utilizing two-stage estimations with instrumental variables (IVs).

Suggested Citation

  • Xun Zhang & Meng Shi & Biao Xu, 2019. "Do Government R&D Subsidies Cultivate Enterprises’ Voluntary National/Industry Standard-Setting for Sustainable Development?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-20, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:19:p:5482-:d:273282
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