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Nonmonetary awards and innovation: Evidence from winning China's Top Brand Contest

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  • Luo, Lianfa
  • Cheng, Zhiming
  • Ye, Qingqing
  • Cheng, Yanjun
  • Smyth, Russell
  • Yang, Zhiqing
  • Zhang, Le

Abstract

We use the short-lived, but high-profile, China Top Brand Award to examine the causal effects of nonmonetary awards on firm innovation. To do so, we create a panel dataset by matching official China Top Brand Award recipients to the innovation outputs of listed companies. Results from difference-in-differences estimates show that firms that received the China Top Brand Award have a higher number, and better quality, of filed patents. We find that the positive effects of winning the China Top Brand Award on innovation outputs operate through higher government subsidies to winning firms. We also find that the positive effects of award-winning are stronger among state-owned enterprises, larger enterprises, and better-performing enterprises, as well as in provinces with stronger intellectual property rights protection. Our results are robust to a series of sensitivity checks.

Suggested Citation

  • Luo, Lianfa & Cheng, Zhiming & Ye, Qingqing & Cheng, Yanjun & Smyth, Russell & Yang, Zhiqing & Zhang, Le, 2024. "Nonmonetary awards and innovation: Evidence from winning China's Top Brand Contest," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:86:y:2024:i:c:s1043951x24000798
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2024.102190
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    Keywords

    China Top Brand Award; Intellectual property rights; Innovation outputs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M2 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Economics
    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights

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