TY - JOUR

T1 - Research-driven or party-promoted? Factors affecting patent applications of private small and medium-sized enterprises in China's Pearl River Delta

AU - Liefner, Ingo

AU - Kroll, Henning

AU - Peighambari, Arman

N1 - Funding Information: The authors would like to thank Prof Xun Li of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China, for the fruitful collaboration and his help in conducting the survey. This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG Li981/5-2) as part of Priority Programme 1233.

PY - 2016/6/4

Y1 - 2016/6/4

N2 - In China, as elsewhere, the number of a firm's patent applications is regularly considered to be an indicator of its innovation capability. China's patent system, however, is peculiar in that government subsidies and official targets play a notable role in influencing individuals' patenting behaviour. Using company survey data, this paper examines the influence of firms' formal ties with the Communist Party of China (CPC) on their patenting behaviour. Taking the example of private small and medium-sized firms in the electronics industry of the Pearl River Delta, it establishes that the presence of CPC offices can be the strongest single predictor for patenting even when other factors are taken into account. This seems particularly noteworthy because earlier studies found that small and medium-sized firms in the Pearl River Delta were less susceptible to central government influence than other Chinese firms.

AB - In China, as elsewhere, the number of a firm's patent applications is regularly considered to be an indicator of its innovation capability. China's patent system, however, is peculiar in that government subsidies and official targets play a notable role in influencing individuals' patenting behaviour. Using company survey data, this paper examines the influence of firms' formal ties with the Communist Party of China (CPC) on their patenting behaviour. Taking the example of private small and medium-sized firms in the electronics industry of the Pearl River Delta, it establishes that the presence of CPC offices can be the strongest single predictor for patenting even when other factors are taken into account. This seems particularly noteworthy because earlier studies found that small and medium-sized firms in the Pearl River Delta were less susceptible to central government influence than other Chinese firms.

KW - China

KW - Communist Party of China

KW - Innovation

KW - Patenting

KW - Small and medium-sized firms

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85013372243&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1093/scipol/scw002

DO - 10.1093/scipol/scw002

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85013372243

VL - 43

SP - 849

EP - 858

JO - Science and Public Policy

JF - Science and Public Policy

SN - 0302-3427

IS - 6

ER -