IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/respol/v52y2023i10s0048733323001531.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Human capital and trademarks: Evidence from higher education expansion in China

Author

Listed:
  • Shu, Li
  • Wang, Wei

Abstract

This paper investigates how human capital affects trademark applications at the firm level. We adopt a difference-in-differences strategy to examine the impact of human capital on trademark applications, taking advantage of a unique natural experiment in China that expanded higher education enrollment substantially in 1999. We find firms in industries with higher human capital intensities filed for more trademarks after 2003 than they did in prior years. We then investigate the mechanism through which human capital enhancement causes more trademark applications. We find that firms in industries with higher human capital intensities tend to invest more in R&D and worker training programs. We next find that firms that spend more on R&D and training programs tend to develop more new products. We also find firms that have more new products file for more trademark applications. The main policy implication of our empirical results is that encouraging human capital enhancement can generate more innovative products and trademarks.

Suggested Citation

  • Shu, Li & Wang, Wei, 2023. "Human capital and trademarks: Evidence from higher education expansion in China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(10).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:52:y:2023:i:10:s0048733323001531
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2023.104869
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048733323001531
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.respol.2023.104869?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. Ulrich Schmoch, 2003. "Service marks as novel innovation indicator," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(2), pages 149-156, August.
    2. Nathan Nunn & Nancy Qian, 2011. "The Potato's Contribution to Population and Urbanization: Evidence From A Historical Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(2), pages 593-650.
    3. Teixeira, Aurora A.C. & Fortuna, Natércia, 2010. "Human capital, R&D, trade, and long-run productivity. Testing the technological absorption hypothesis for the Portuguese economy, 1960-2001," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 335-350, April.
    4. Sascha O. Becker & Erik Hornung & Ludger Woessmann, 2011. "Education and Catch-Up in the Industrial Revolution," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 92-126, July.
    5. Meindert Flikkema & Ard-Pieter De Man & Carolina Castaldi, 2014. "Are Trademark Counts a Valid Indicator of Innovation? Results of an In-Depth Study of New Benelux Trademarks Filed by SMEs," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(4), pages 310-331, May.
    6. Castaldi Carolina & Mafini Dosso, 2018. "From R&D to market: using trademarks to capture the market capability of top R&D investors," JRC Working Papers on Corporate R&D and Innovation 2018-01, Joint Research Centre.
    7. Flikkema, Meindert & Castaldi, Carolina & de Man, Ard-Pieter & Seip, Marcel, 2019. "Trademarks’ relatedness to product and service innovation: A branding strategy approach," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(6), pages 1340-1353.
    8. Mara P. Squicciarini & Nico Voigtländer, 2015. "Human Capital and Industrialization: Evidence from the Age of Enlightenment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(4), pages 1825-1883.
    9. Erik Hornung, 2014. "Immigration and the Diffusion of Technology: The Huguenot Diaspora in Prussia," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(1), pages 84-122, January.
    10. Daron Acemoglu, 1998. "Why Do New Technologies Complement Skills? Directed Technical Change and Wage Inequality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(4), pages 1055-1089.
    11. Carolina Castaldi & Joern Block & Meindert J. Flikkema, 2020. "Editorial: why and when do firms trademark? Bridging perspectives from industrial organisation, innovation and entrepreneurship," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1-2), pages 1-10, February.
    12. Chang-Tai Hsieh & Peter J. Klenow, 2009. "Misallocation and Manufacturing TFP in China and India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(4), pages 1403-1448.
    13. Benhabib, Jess & Spiegel, Mark M., 2005. "Human Capital and Technology Diffusion," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 13, pages 935-966, Elsevier.
    14. Raghuram G. Rajan & Luigi Zingales, 1998. "Power in a Theory of the Firm," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 113(2), pages 387-432.
    15. Mendonca, Sandro & Pereira, Tiago Santos & Godinho, Manuel Mira, 2004. "Trademarks as an indicator of innovation and industrial change," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(9), pages 1385-1404, November.
    16. Kong, Dongmin & Zhang, Bohui & Zhang, Jian, 2022. "Higher education and corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    17. Lutz Schneider & Jutta Gunther & Bianca Brandenburg, 2010. "Innovation and skills from a sectoral perspective: a linked employer-employee analysis," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 185-202.
    18. Protogerou, Aimilia & Caloghirou, Yannis & Vonortas, Nicholas S., 2017. "Determinants of young firms’ innovative performance: Empirical evidence from Europe," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(7), pages 1312-1326.
    19. Brandt, Loren & Van Biesebroeck, Johannes & Zhang, Yifan, 2012. "Creative accounting or creative destruction? Firm-level productivity growth in Chinese manufacturing," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 339-351.
    20. Paul H. Jensen & Elizabeth Webster, 2009. "Another Look At The Relationship Between Innovation Proxies," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3), pages 252-269, September.
    21. Castaldi, Carolina, 2018. "To trademark or not to trademark: The case of the creative and cultural industries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 606-616.
    22. Patrick Llerena & Valentine Millot, 2020. "Are two better than one? Modelling the complementarity between patents and trademarks across industries," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1-2), pages 52-79, February.
    23. Antonio Ciccone & Elias Papaioannou, 2009. "Human Capital, the Structure of Production, and Growth," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(1), pages 66-82, February.
    24. Daron Acemoglu & David H. Autor & David Lyle, 2004. "Women, War, and Wages: The Effect of Female Labor Supply on the Wage Structure at Midcentury," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(3), pages 497-551, June.
    25. Francesco Bogliacino & Mario Pianta, 2013. "Profits, R&D, and innovation--a model and a test," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 22(3), pages 649-678, June.
    26. Daron Acemoglu, 2003. "Labor- And Capital-Augmenting Technical Change," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 1(1), pages 1-37, March.
    27. Ethan Lewis, 2011. "Immigration, Skill Mix, and Capital Skill Complementarity," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(2), pages 1029-1069.
    28. Teixeira, Aurora A.C. & Tavares-Lehmann, Ana Teresa, 2014. "Human capital intensity in technology-based firms located in Portugal: Does foreign ownership matter?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 737-748.
    29. Pier-Paolo Saviotti & Andreas Pyka, 2017. "Innovation, structural change and demand evolution: does demand saturate?," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 337-358, April.
    30. Claudia Goldin & Lawrence F. Katz, 2008. "Transitions: Career and Family Life Cycles of the Educational Elite," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(2), pages 363-369, May.
    31. Benhabib, Jess & Spiegel, Mark M., 1994. "The role of human capital in economic development evidence from aggregate cross-country data," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 143-173, October.
    32. Stuart, Robert W. & Abetti, Pier A., 1990. "Impact of entrepreneurial and management experience on early performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 151-162, May.
    33. Hayami, Yujiro & Ruttan, Vernon W, 1970. "Agricultural Productivity Differences Among Countries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 60(5), pages 895-911, December.
    34. Bai, Chong-En & Li, David D. & Tao, Zhigang & Wang, Yijiang, 2000. "A Multitask Theory of State Enterprise Reform," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 716-738, December.
    35. Andrea Fosfuri & Marco S. Giarratana, 2009. "Masters of War: Rivals' Product Innovation and New Advertising in Mature Product Markets," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(2), pages 181-191, February.
    36. Reitzig, Markus, 2004. "Improving patent valuations for management purposes--validating new indicators by analyzing application rationales," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(6-7), pages 939-957, September.
    37. Philip Bodman & Thanh Le, 2013. "Assessing the roles that absorptive capacity and economic distance play in the foreign direct investment-productivity growth nexus," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(8), pages 1027-1039, March.
    38. Daron Acemoglu, 2002. "Technical Change, Inequality, and the Labor Market," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(1), pages 7-72, March.
    39. Barroso, Alicia & Giarratana, Marco S. & Pasquini, Martina, 2019. "Product portfolio performance in new foreign markets: The EU trademark dual system," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 11-21.
    40. Deepak Somaya & Ian O. Williamson & Xiaomeng Zhang, 2007. "Combining Patent Law Expertise with R&D for Patenting Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(6), pages 922-937, December.
    41. Caroline Flammer, 2015. "Does product market competition foster corporate social responsibility? Evidence from trade liberalization," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(10), pages 1469-1485, October.
    42. David H. Autor & Lawrence F. Katz & Alan B. Krueger, 1998. "Computing Inequality: Have Computers Changed the Labor Market?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 113(4), pages 1169-1213.
    43. John M. Mezias & Stephen J. Mezias, 2000. "Resource Partitioning, the Founding of Specialist Firms, and Innovation: The American Feature Film Industry, 1912–1929," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(3), pages 306-322, June.
    44. Ulrich Schmoch & Stephan Gauch, 2009. "Service marks as indicators for innovation in knowledge-based services," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(4), pages 323-335, October.
    45. Valentine Millot, 2009. "Trademarks as an Indicator of Product and Marketing Innovations," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers 2009/6, OECD Publishing.
    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. Yougen Cao & Shengce Ren & Mei Du, 2022. "Strategic trademark management: a systematic literature review and prospects for future research," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 29(5), pages 435-453, September.
    2. Flikkema, Meindert & Castaldi, Carolina & de Man, Ard-Pieter & Seip, Marcel, 2019. "Trademarks’ relatedness to product and service innovation: A branding strategy approach," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(6), pages 1340-1353.
    3. Stephen Petrie & Mitchell Adams & Ben Mitra‐Kahn & Matthew Johnson & Russell Thomson & Paul Jensen & Alfons Palangkaraya & Elizabeth Webster, 2020. "TM‐Link: An Internationally Linked Trademark Database," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 53(2), pages 254-269, June.
    4. Fisch, Christian & Meoli, Michele & Vismara, Silvio & Block, Jörn H., 2022. "The effect of trademark breadth on IPO valuation and post-IPO performance: an empirical investigation of 1510 European IPOs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(5).
    5. Darius Lambrecht & Joern Block & Matthias Neuenkirch & Holger Steinmetz & Tom Willeke, 2023. "The Interdependence of Intellectual Property and Sales in the Manufacturing Industry: Evidence from the Triangle of Patents, Trademarks, and Sales," Research Papers in Economics 2023-10, University of Trier, Department of Economics.
    6. Carolina Castaldi & Sandro Mendonca, 2021. "Regions and trademarks. Research opportunities and policy insights from leveraging trademarks in regional innovation studies," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2138, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Dec 2021.
    7. Jörn Block & Christian Fisch & Kenta Ikeuchi & Masatoshi Kato, 2022. "Trademarks as an indicator of regional innovation: evidence from Japanese prefectures," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(2), pages 190-209, February.
    8. Herz, Benedikt & Mejer, Malwina, 2019. "Effects of the European Union trademark: Lessons for the harmonization of intellectual property systems," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(7), pages 1841-1854.
    9. Max Nathan & Anna Rosso, 2017. "Innovative events," Development Working Papers 429, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano, revised 08 Apr 2019.
    10. Castaldi Carolina & Mafini Dosso, 2018. "From R&D to market: using trademarks to capture the market capability of top R&D investors," JRC Working Papers on Corporate R&D and Innovation 2018-01, Joint Research Centre.
    11. Nasirov, Shukhrat, 2020. "Trademark value indicators: Evidence from the trademark protection lifecycle in the U.S. pharmaceutical industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(4).
    12. Nathan, Max & Rosso, Anna, 2022. "Innovative events: product launches, innovation and firm performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(1).
    13. Leonardo Costa Ribeiro & Ulisses Pereira Santos & Valbona Muzaka, 2022. "Trademarks as an indicator of innovation: towards a fuller picture," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(1), pages 481-508, January.
    14. Chen, Shiyi & Song, Hong & Wu, Chenyu, 2021. "Human capital investment and firms’ industrial emissions: Evidence and mechanism," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 162-184.
    15. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2022. "Effect of the duration of membership in the World Trade Organization on Trademark Applications," EconStor Preprints 253266, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    16. Castaldi, Carolina, 2018. "To trademark or not to trademark: The case of the creative and cultural industries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 606-616.
    17. Michal burzynski & Christoph Deuster & Frédéric Docquier, 2018. "The Geography of Talent: Development Implications and Long-Run Prospects," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2018002, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    18. Bibhudutta Panda, 2017. "Schooling and productivity growth: evidence from a dual growth accounting application to U.S. states," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 193-221, December.
    19. Taoran Chen & Zhibo Tan & Xiaobo Zhang, 2022. "Does female labor scarcity encourage innovation? Evidence from China's gender imbalance," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 418-447, April.
    20. Mara P. Squicciarini & Nico Voigtländer, 2015. "Human Capital and Industrialization: Evidence from the Age of Enlightenment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(4), pages 1825-1883.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Human capital intensity; Trademark applications; New products; Innovation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

    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:52:y:2023:i:10:s0048733323001531. 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.