IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v37y2009i4p866-873.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What Determines Innovation Activity in Chinese State-owned Enterprises? The Role of Foreign Direct Investment

Author

Listed:
  • Girma, Sourafel
  • Gong, Yundan
  • Görg, Holger

Abstract

Summary We investigate whether inward foreign direct investment (FDI), either at the firm or industry level, has any impact on product innovation by Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs). We use a comprehensive firm-level panel data set of some 20,000 SOEs during 1999-2005. Our results show that foreign capital participation at the firm level is associated with higher innovative activity. Inward FDI in the sector, by contrast, has a negative effect on innovative activity in SOEs on average. However, there is a positive effect of sector-level FDI on SOEs that export, invest in human capital, or undertake R&D.

Suggested Citation

  • Girma, Sourafel & Gong, Yundan & Görg, Holger, 2009. "What Determines Innovation Activity in Chinese State-owned Enterprises? The Role of Foreign Direct Investment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 866-873, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:37:y:2009:i:4:p:866-873
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305-750X(08)00340-9
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    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. Holger Görg & David Greenaway, 2016. "Much Ado about Nothing? Do Domestic Firms Really Benefit from Foreign Direct Investment?," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES AND HOST COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT Volume 53: World Scientific Studies in International Economics, chapter 9, pages 163-189, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    2. James R. Markusen, 2004. "Multinational Firms and the Theory of International Trade," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262633078, December.
    3. Bruno Crepon & Emmanuel Duguet & Jacques Mairesse, 1998. "Research, Innovation And Productivity: An Econometric Analysis At The Firm Level," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(2), pages 115-158.
    4. Chien-Hsun Chen, 1996. "Regional determinants of foreign direct investment in mainland China," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 23(2), pages 18-30, May.
    5. Kugler, Maurice, 2006. "Spillovers from foreign direct investment: Within or between industries?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 444-477, August.
    6. Javorcik, Beata Smarzynska & Spatareanu, Mariana, 2008. "To share or not to share: Does local participation matter for spillovers from foreign direct investment?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(1-2), pages 194-217, February.
    7. Philippe Aghion & Nick Bloom & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & Peter Howitt, 2005. "Competition and Innovation: an Inverted-U Relationship," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 701-728.
    8. Beata Smarzynska Javorcik, 2004. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Increase the Productivity of Domestic Firms? In Search of Spillovers Through Backward Linkages," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 605-627, June.
    9. Sourafel Girma, 2005. "Absorptive Capacity and Productivity Spillovers from FDI: A Threshold Regression Analysis," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 67(3), pages 281-306, June.
    10. Claustre Bajona & Tianshu Chu, 2004. "China's WTO Accession and Its Effect on State-Owned Enterprises," Economics Study Area Working Papers 70, East-West Center, Economics Study Area.
    11. Albert G. Z. Hu & Gary H. Jefferson & Qian Jinchang, 2005. "R&D and Technology Transfer: Firm-Level Evidence from Chinese Industry," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(4), pages 780-786, November.
    12. Crepon, B. & Duguet, E. & Mairesse, J., 1998. "Research Investment, Innovation and Productivity: An Econometric Analysis at the Firm Level," Papiers d'Economie Mathématique et Applications 98.15, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1).
    13. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    14. Redding, Stephen, 1996. "The Low-Skill, Low-Quality Trap: Strategic Complementarities between Human Capital and R&D," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(435), pages 458-470, March.
    15. Geroski, Paul A., 1995. "Market Structure, Corporate Performance, and Innovative Activity," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198288558.
    16. Chen Chunlai, 1997. "Provincial Characteristics and Foreign Direct Investment Location Decision within China," Chinese Economies Research Centre (CERC) Working Papers 1997-16, University of Adelaide, Chinese Economies Research Centre.
    17. Gary Jefferson & Bai Huamao & Guan Xiaojing & Yu Xiaoyun, 2006. "R&D Performance in Chinese industry," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4-5), pages 345-366.
    18. Françoise Lemoine, 2000. "FDI and the Opening Up of China's Economy," Working Papers 2000-11, CEPII research center.
    19. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    20. Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & John van Reenen, 1999. "Market Share, Market Value and Innovation in a Panel of British Manufacturing Firms," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 66(3), pages 529-554.
    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. Sourafel Girma & Yundan Gong & Holger Görg, 2016. "Foreign Direct Investment, Access to Finance, and Innovation Activity in Chinese Enterprises," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES AND HOST COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT Volume 53: World Scientific Studies in International Economics, chapter 5, pages 79-94, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    2. Girma, Sourafel & Görg, Holger & Gong, Yundan, 2006. "Can You Teach Old Dragons New Tricks? FDI and Innovation Activity in Chinese State-Owned Enterprises," CEPR Discussion Papers 5838, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. H. Ben Hassine & F. Boudier & C. Mathieu, 2017. "The two ways of FDI R&D spillovers: evidence from the French manufacturing industry," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(25), pages 2395-2408, May.
    4. Yosuke Okada, 2005. "Competition and Productivity in Japanese Manufacturing Industries," NBER Working Papers 11540, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Amable, Bruno & Demmou, Lila & Lezdema, Ivan, 2007. "Competition, Innovation and Distance to Frontier," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Docweb) 0706, CEPREMAP.
    6. Okada, Yosuke, 2005. "Competition and productivity in Japanese manufacturing industries," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 586-616, December.
    7. J. Rosell-Martinez & P. Sanchez-Sellero, 2011. "Foreign direct investment and technical progress in Spanish manufacturing," Post-Print hal-00693830, HAL.
    8. Girma, Sourafel & Gong, Yundan, 2008. "Putting people first? Chinese state-owned enterprises' adjustment to globalisation," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 573-585, March.
    9. repec:dau:papers:123456789/6914 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Rachel Griffith & Stephen Redding & Helen Simpson, 2004. "Foreign Ownership and Productivity: New Evidence from the Service Sector and the R&D Lab," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 20(3), pages 440-456, Autumn.
    11. Segundo Camino-Mogro & Natalia Bermúdez-Barrezueta & Mary Armijos, 2023. "Is FDI a potential tool for boosting firm’s performance? Firm level evidence from Ecuador," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 341-391, April.
    12. Todo, Yasuyuki & Zhang, Weiying & Zhou, Li-An, 2009. "Knowledge spillovers from FDI in China: The role of educated labor in multinational enterprises," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 626-639, November.
    13. Christophe Pennetier & Karan Girotra & Jürgen Mihm, 2019. "R&D Spending: Dynamic or Persistent?," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 21(3), pages 636-657, July.
    14. Kimura, Hidemi & Todo, Yasuyuki, 2010. "Is Foreign Aid a Vanguard of Foreign Direct Investment? A Gravity-Equation Approach," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 482-497, April.
    15. Marijke J. D. Bos & Gonzague Vannoorenberghe, 2018. "Total factor productivity spillovers from trade reforms in India," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 51(2), pages 549-606, May.
    16. Nuno Crespo & Maria Paula Fontoura & Isabel Proença, 2009. "FDI spillovers at regional level: Evidence from Portugal," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 88(3), pages 591-607, August.
    17. Steven Poelhekke & Frederick Van der Ploeg, 2008. "Growth, Foreign Direct Investment and Urban Concentrations: Unbundling Spatial Lags," CESifo Working Paper Series 2474, CESifo.
    18. Stefano Bianchini & Federico Tamagni & Gabriele Pellegrino, 2016. "Innovation strategies and firm growth," Working Papers 2016/10, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    19. Masahito Ambashi, 2017. "Competition Effects and Industrial Productivity: Lessons from Japanese Industry," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 16(3), pages 212-249, Fall.
    20. Waldkirch, Andreas & Ofosu, Andra, 2010. "Foreign Presence, Spillovers, and Productivity: Evidence from Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 1114-1126, August.
    21. Thomas Strobel, 2012. "New evidence on the sources of EU countries’ productivity growth—industry growth differences from R&D and competition," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 39(3), pages 293-325, August.

    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:wdevel:v:37:y:2009:i:4:p:866-873. 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/worlddev .

    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.