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Good neighbors, bad neighbors: local knowledge spillovers, regional institutions and firm performance in China

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  • Shengjun Zhu

    (Peking University)

  • Canfei He

    (Peking University)

  • Qian Luo

    (Peking University)

Abstract

Recent evolutionary economic geography studies have stressed technological relatedness as a key explanatory factor for regional industrial diversification. It is further argued that firms that manufacture products with dense connections to regional industrial structure benefit the most from local knowledge spillovers and thus should grow faster. Based on a firm-level dataset on China’s manufacturing industry over the 1998–2008 period, our results indicate that the density of links between a firm’s products and local industrial structure does yield firm performance enhancing spillovers. We further decompose the overall density indicator and point out the lack of connections between firms of different ownership types in terms of information exchange and technological diffusion. Finally, empirical results confirm that regional institutions play a critical role in the spillover diffusion between firms of different ownership structures.

Suggested Citation

  • Shengjun Zhu & Canfei He & Qian Luo, 2019. "Good neighbors, bad neighbors: local knowledge spillovers, regional institutions and firm performance in China," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 617-632, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:52:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s11187-017-9975-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-017-9975-2
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    2. Xiaojing Li & Jing Chen, 2023. "Global or Local Spatial Spillovers? Industrial Diversity and Economic Resilience in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River Urban Agglomeration, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-17, July.
    3. Andrea Fracasso & Kun Jiang, 2022. "The performance of private companies in China before and during the global financial crisis: firms’ characteristics and entrepreneurs’ attributes," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 803-836, May.
    4. Peng Bin & Xiaolan Chen & Andrea Fracasso & Chiara Tomasi, 2020. "Firm employment growth in China: The role of marketization and regional economic factors," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 402-439, March.
    5. Yundan Gong & Aoife Hanley, 2021. "Exports and New Products in China – A Generalised Propensity Score Approach with Firm-to-Firm Spillovers," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(12), pages 2136-2155, December.
    6. Cheng, Ruiqi & Yuan, Peng & Jiang, Gongxiong, 2023. "Growth, agglomeration externalities, and survival: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing start-ups," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Knowledge spillovers; Relatedness; Firm performance; Firm ownership; Regional institutions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C12 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Hypothesis Testing: General
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

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