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Complementarities between R&D investment and exporting—Evidence from China

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  • Wang, Fang

Abstract

In view of the importance of deliberate R&D activities in achieving productivity gain via exports for firms in developing economies, this study explores a potential complementarity between firms' decision to export or to invest in R&D empirically. The evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms reveals a complementarity between exporting and R&D investment in their impacts on firm's productivity. The complementarity test is implemented based on the supermodularity theory. After disentangling the selection bias from the decision to export and to invest R&D through mixed multinomial Logit regression, the multinomial treatment effect estimation identifies that the joint decisions improve firms' labor productivity by 0.283. Moreover, the exporting status increases firms’ tendency to invest in R&D, and vice versa, thus implying the existence of complementarity from the view of firms' decision.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Fang, 2014. "Complementarities between R&D investment and exporting—Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 217-227.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:31:y:2014:i:c:p:217-227
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2014.09.009
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    Cited by:

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    2. Wu, Lichao & Wei, Yingqi & Wang, Chengang, 2021. "Disentangling the effects of business groups in the innovation-export relationship," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(1).
    3. Fang Wang & Xiaoyong Dai, 2020. "Regulation and product innovation: the intermediate role of resource reallocation," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 30(4), pages 1035-1061, September.
    4. Yueling Cai & Gongliang Wu & Dingsheng Zhang, 2020. "Does Export Trade Promote Firm Innovation?," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 21(2), pages 483-506, November.
    5. Ljungwall, Christer & Tingvall, Patrik Gustavsson, 2015. "Is China different? A meta-analysis of the growth-enhancing effect from R&D spending in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 272-278.
    6. Cristiano Antonelli & Christophe Feder, 2021. "The Schumpeterian creative response: export and innovation: evidence for OECD countries 1995–2015," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 38(3), pages 803-821, October.
    7. Jafari Sadeghi, Vahid & Biancone, Paolo Pietro, 2018. "How micro, small and medium-sized enterprises are driven outward the superior international trade performance? A multidimensional study on Italian food sector," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 597-606.
    8. Wu, Lichao & Wei, Yingqi & Wang, Chengang & McDonald, Frank & Han, Xia, 2022. "The importance of institutional and financial resources for export performance associated with technological innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    9. Dai, Xiaoyong & Sun, Zao & Liu, Hang, 2018. "Disentangling the effects of endogenous export and innovation on the performance of Chinese manufacturing firms," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 42-58.
    10. Dong, Guowei & Kokko, Ari & Zhou, Haoyong, 2022. "Innovation and export performance of emerging market enterprises: The roles of state and foreign ownership in China," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6).
    11. Bingqiang Li & Shan Wang & Nannan Dong & Jinzhi Li & Xi Li & He Yu, 2023. "Empirical Analysis of Subsidy Industrial Policy’s Effect on Export Innovation in the Chinese Manufacturing," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, November.
    12. Wang, Fang & Chen, Kaihua, 2020. "Do product imitation and innovation require different patterns of organizational innovation? Evidence from Chinese firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 60-74.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    R&D investment; Exports; Complementarity; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory

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