China's rising IQ (Innovation Quotient) and growth: Firm-level evidence

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Fang, Jing; He, Hui; Li, Nan
• 署名单位: Zhongnan University of Economics & Law; Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Huazhong University of Science & Technology; International Monetary Fund
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2020.102561
• 发表日期: 2020
• 关键词: innovation; GROWTH; patent; R&D; PRODUCTIVITY; Intellectual property rights; State-owned enterprises; CHINA

摘要

This paper examines whether the rapidly growing firm patenting activity in China is associated with productivity growth, and whether this association changes after the introduction of patent subsidy programs and differs across ownership types. We first build a unique dataset uniting detailed firm balance sheet information with firm patent data for the period 1998-2007. We find strong evidence that both within-firm increases in patent stock and initial patenting event are associated with increases in total factor productivity. Patent subsidy programs sequentially implemented across Chinese provinces weaken this positive association over time. State-owned enterprises (SOEs) have higher productivity-patenting elasticities than private firms, especially after the SOE reforms. Exploring regional variations in the perceived quality of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection shows an inverted U-Shaped relationship between IPR protection and innovation, consistent with the literature.