IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unm/unumer/2008019.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Innovativeness of Foreign Firms in China

Author

Listed:
  • Urem, Branka

    (UNU-MERIT)

  • Alcorta, Ludovico

    (Maastricht School of Management)

  • An, Tongliang

    (School of Business, Nanjing University)

Abstract

This paper studies the relationship between foreign ownership and innovations of high novelty in context of advanced developing countries. We develop hypotheses about a direct relationship in terms of two dimensions, propensity and intensity of innovations of high novelty, and a contingency hypothesis about the moderating impact of R&D internationalisation on the relationship with propensity. The analysis is based on innovation survey data on manufacturing firms from Jiangsu province of China. Hypotheses are tested using non-parametric methods. We find that foreign firms do not have a higher propensity of innovations of high novelty, not even when they engage in formal R&D. However, the evidence suggests that foreign firms have a higher intensity of innovations of high novelty than domestic firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Urem, Branka & Alcorta, Ludovico & An, Tongliang, 2008. "The Innovativeness of Foreign Firms in China," MERIT Working Papers 2008-019, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    • Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2008019
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.merit.unu.edu/publications/wppdf/2008/wp2008-019.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Walter Kuemmerle, 1999. "The Drivers of Foreign Direct Investment into Research and Development: An Empirical Investigation," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 30(1), pages 1-24, March.
    2. Michael Hitt & M. Tina Dacin & Edward Levitas & Jean-Luc Arregle & Anca Borza, 2000. "Partner Selection in Emerging and Developed Market Contexts : Resource-Based and Organizational Learning Perspectives," Post-Print hal-02276706, HAL.
    3. Pierre Mohnen & Pierre Therrien, 2001. "How Innovative Are Canadian Firms Compared to Some European Firms? A Comparative Look at Innovation Surveys," CIRANO Working Papers 2001s-49, CIRANO.
    4. Bruce Kogut & Udo Zander, 1993. "Knowledge of the Firm and the Evolutionary Theory of the Multinational Corporation," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 24(4), pages 625-645, December.
    5. Loet Leydesdorff & Ping Zhou, 2005. "Are the contributions of China and Korea upsetting the world system of science?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 63(3), pages 617-630, June.
    6. Lundin, Nannan & Sjöholm, Fredrik & Qian , Jinchang, 2006. "The Role Of Small Firms In China’S Technology Development," EIJS Working Paper Series 227, Stockholm School of Economics, The European Institute of Japanese Studies.
    7. Michael Hitt & M. Tina Dacin & Edward Levitas & Jean-Luc Arregle & Anca Borza, 2000. "Partner Selection in Emerging and Developed Market Contexts : Resource-Based and Organizational Learning Perspectives," Post-Print hal-02312691, HAL.
    8. Bernhard Dachs & Bernd Ebersberger & Hans Lööf, 2008. "The innovative performance of foreign-owned enterprises in small open economies," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 393-406, August.
    9. Kannebley, Sergio Jr. & Porto, Geciane S. & Pazello, Elaine Toldo, 2005. "Characteristics of Brazilian innovative firms: An empirical analysis based on PINTEC--industrial research on technological innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 872-893, August.
    10. Cantwell, John & Santangelo, Grazia D., 1999. "The frontier of international technology networks: sourcing abroad the most highly tacit capabilities," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 101-123, March.
    11. Hirschey, Robert C & Caves, Richard E, 1981. "Research and Transfer of Technology by Multinational Enterprises," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 43(2), pages 115-130, May.
    12. Marion Frenz & Grazia Ietto-Gillies, 2007. "Does Multinationality Affect the Propensity to Innovate? An Analysis of the Third UK Community Innovation Survey," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 99-117.
    13. Luo, Yadong, 2002. "Partnering with foreign businesses: perspectives from Chinese firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(6), pages 481-493, June.
    14. Kuemmerle, Walter, 1999. "Foreign direct investment in industrial research in the pharmaceutical and electronics industries--results from a survey of multinational firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(2-3), pages 179-193, March.
    15. Archibugi, Daniele & Michie, Jonathan, 1995. "The Globalisation of Technology: A New Taxonomy," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(1), pages 121-140, February.
    16. John H Dunning, 1988. "The Eclectic Paradigm of International Production: A Restatement and Some Possible Extensions," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 19(1), pages 1-31, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. (Robert) Li, Xiang & Harrill, Rich & Uysal, Muzaffer & Burnett, Traverse & Zhan, Xiaofeng, 2010. "Estimating the size of the Chinese outbound travel market: A demand-side approach," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 250-259.
    2. Jaan Masso & Tõnu Roolaht & Urmas Varblane, 2010. "Foreign Direct Investment And Innovation In Central And Eastern Europe: Evidence From Estonia," University of Tartu - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Working Paper Series 67, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (Estonia).

    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. Marina Papanastassiou & Robert Pearce & Antonello Zanfei, 2020. "Changing perspectives on the internationalization of R&D and innovation by multinational enterprises: A review of the literature," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(4), pages 623-664, June.
    2. Lewin, Arie Y. & Volberda, Henk W., 2011. "Co-evolution of global sourcing: The need to understand the underlying mechanisms of firm-decisions to offshore," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 241-251, June.
    3. Lorena D’Agostino, 2015. "The neglected effects of R&D captive offshoring in emerging countries on the creation of knowledge at home," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 42(1), pages 61-91, March.
    4. Dohse, Dirk & Hassink, Robert & Klaerding, Claudia, 2012. "Emerging multinationals, international knowledge flows and economic geography: A research agenda," Kiel Working Papers 1776, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    5. Mukherjee, Debmalya & Makarius, Erin E. & Stevens, Charles E., 2021. "A reputation transfer perspective on the internationalization of emerging market firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 568-579.
    6. Scaringella, Laurent & Burtschell, François, 2017. "The challenges of radical innovation in Iran: Knowledge transfer and absorptive capacity highlights — Evidence from a joint venture in the construction sector," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 151-169.
    7. Zerbini, Fabrizio & Borghini, Stefania, 2015. "Release capacity in the vendor selection process," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 405-414.
    8. Xiaohui Yuan & Jiayan Yan, 2022. "Reverse Efficiency Spillovers from Host Country Banks to Foreign Banks: Evidence from Emerging Market Bank Subsidiaries in Developed Markets," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 62(6), pages 915-946, December.
    9. Leahy, Dermot & Pavelin, Stephen, 2008. "Playing away to win at home," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 60(5), pages 455-468.
    10. Liu, Ting & Li, Xizhuo, 2022. "How Do MNCs Conduct Local Technological Innovation in a Host Country? An Examination From Subsidiaries' Perspective," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(3).
    11. Iris Claus & Les Oxley & Peilei Fan, 2014. "Innovation In China," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 725-745, September.
    12. Patrick Regnér & Udo Zander, 2011. "Knowledge and Strategy Creation in Multinational Companies," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 51(6), pages 821-850, December.
    13. Martinez-Noya, Andrea & Garcia-Canal, Esteban & Guillen, Mauro F., 2012. "International R&D service outsourcing by technology-intensive firms: Whether and where?," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 18-37.
    14. Bilgili, Tsvetomira V. & Kedia, Ben L. & Bilgili, Hansin, 2016. "Exploring the influence of resource environments on absorptive capacity development: The case of emerging market firms," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(5), pages 700-712.
    15. Dong, Li & Glaister, Keith W., 2006. "Motives and partner selection criteria in international strategic alliances: Perspectives of Chinese firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 577-600, December.
    16. Kurokawa, Sam & Iwata, Satoshi & Roberts, Edward B., 2007. "Global R&D activities of Japanese MNCs in the US: A triangulation approach," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 3-36, February.
    17. Ilgaz Arikan & Asli M. Arikan & Oded Shenkar, 2022. "Revisiting emerging market multinational enterprise views: The Goldilocks story restated," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(4), pages 781-802, June.
    18. Liu, Xiaming & Vahtera, Pekka & Wang, Chengang & Wang, Jue & Wei, Yingqi, 2017. "The delicate balance: Managing technology adoption and creation in multinational affiliates in an emerging economy," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 515-526.
    19. Bernadine J. Dykes & Ikenna Uzuegbunam, 2023. "Foreign partner choice in the public interest: Experience and risk in infrastructure public–private partnerships," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 6(1), pages 47-66, March.
    20. Bas, Christian Le & Sierra, Christophe, 2002. "'Location versus home country advantages' in R&D activities: some further results on multinationals' locational strategies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 589-609, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    multinational enterprises; foreign firms; innovation; manufacturing; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:unm:unumer:2008019. 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: Ad Notten (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/meritnl.html .

    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.