Examining the moderating effect of technology spillovers embedded in the intra- and inter-regional collaborative innovation networks of China

Innovation network formulated by the collaborations between entities (firms, universities and research institutes) facilitates the technology spillovers, which usually act as a key factor that boosts indigenous innovation capability. This study analyzes the collaborative innovation network from both intra- and inter-regional dimensions. We use the Chinese biomedical patent co-inventing data between entities to construct the intra- and inter-regional collaborative innovation networks, and examine how they generate the spillover effect by moderating the relationship between R&D input and output, as well as how they moderate the technology spillovers from overseas countries. The empirical study shows that collaborative innovation network generates a significant moderating effect on the relationship between R&D personnel and innovation output, while this effect is insignificant for R&D investment. In the intra-regional collaborative innovation network dimension, clustering coefficient and network density generate positive moderating effects by amplifying the positive relationship between R&D personnel and innovation output, network density also positively moderates the correlation between overseas technology spillover and innovation output; In the inter-regional dimension, only the clustering coefficient positively moderates the relationship between R&D personnel and innovation output. Our study is also relevant to policy makers.

[1]  S. Young,et al.  Technology Transfer to China Through Foreign Direct Investment , 1996 .

[2]  H. Katrak.  Economic analyses of Industrial Research Institutes in developing countries: the Indian experience , 1998 .

[3]  Daniel A. Levinthal,et al.  ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY: A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON LEARNING AND INNOVATION , 1990 .

[4]  S. Krätke,et al.  Regional Knowledge Networks , 2010 .

[5]  Srabana Gupta,et al.  Optimum Tariffs and Patent Length in a Model of North-South Technology Transfer , 2004 .

[6]  Daniel A. Levinthal,et al.  Innovation and Learning: The Two Faces of R&D , 1989 .

[7]  Liu Wei,et al.  International technology transfer and development of technological capabilities: A theoretical framework , 1995 .

[8]  GuanJiancheng,et al.  The impact of small world on patent productivity in China , 2014 .

[9]  Jianghua Zhou,et al.  The effects of forward and reverse engineering on firm innovation performance in the stages of technology catch-up: An empirical study of China , 2016 .

[10]  Lee Branstetter,et al.  The impact of technology transfer and R & D on productivity growth in Taiwanese industry: Microeconometric analysis using plant and firm-level data , 2006 .

[11]  Jasjit Singh,et al.  Collaborative Networks as Determinants of Knowledge Diffusion Patterns , 2005, Manag. Sci..

[12]  Yifei Sun,et al.  Sources of Innovation in China's Manufacturing Sector: Imported or Developed in-House? , 2002 .

[13]  Xiaowen Tian.  Accounting for sources of FDI technology spillovers: evidence from China , 2007 .

[14]  Yifei Sun,et al.  Determinants of Industrial Innovation in China: Evidence From its Recent Economic Census , 2010 .

[15]  C. Ai,et al.  Interaction terms in logit and probit models , 2003 .

[16]  Stephen Young,et al.  International technology transfer examined at technology component level: a case study in China , 1996 .

[17]  C. Cao,et al.  Intra- and inter-regional research collaboration across organizational boundaries: evolving patterns in China , 2015 .

[18]  La-chang Lu,et al.  Urban hierarchy of innovation capability and inter-city linkages of knowledge in post-reform China , 2012, Chinese Geographical Science.

[19]  F. David Mulcahy,et al.  Self-attack snail nails: naming everyday technology in Northern Chinese and American English , 1999 .

[20]  Inge Ivarsson,et al.  Technology transfer from TNCs to local suppliers in developing countries: A study of AB Volvo’s truck and bus plants in Brazil, China, India, and Mexico , 2005 .

[21]  Corey C. Phelps,et al.  Interfirm Collaboration Networks: The Impact of Large-Scale Network Structure on Firm Innovation , 2007, Manag. Sci..

[22]  Hariolf Grupp,et al.  There's a new man in town: the paradigm shift in optical technology , 2006 .

[23]  Jiancheng Guan,et al.  Mapping the innovation production process from accumulative advantage to economic outcomes: A path modeling approach , 2011 .

[24]  Jianghua Zhou,et al.  Investigating determinants of inter-regional technology transfer in China: a network analysis with provincial patent data , 2016 .

[25]  Andrea Fabrizi,et al.  THE IMPACT OF RELATIONAL SPILLOVERS FROM JOINT RESEARCH PROJECTS ON KNOWLEDGE CREATION ACROSS EUROPEAN REGIONS , 2016 .

[26]  A. Saxenian.  The New Argonauts: Regional Advantage in a Global Economy , 1994 .

[27]  Carlos M. Correa.  Argentina's national innovation system , 1998 .

[28]  Arvind Sahay,et al.  Emerging Role of Technology Licensing in the Development of Global Product Strategy: Conceptual Framework and Research Propositions , 1996 .

[29]  Xiaohui Liu,et al.  Does foreign direct investment facilitate technological progress?: Evidence from Chinese industries , 2003 .

[30]  Albert G Z Hu,et al.  FDI Impact and Spillover: Evidence from China's Electronic and Textile Industries , 2002 .

[31]  B. Kogut,et al.  Localization of Knowledge and the Mobility of Engineers in Regional Networks , 1999 .

[32]  Bin Xu,et al.  Capital goods trade and R&D spillovers in the OECD , 1999 .

[33]  P. Lin,et al.  Spillover Effects of FDI on Innovation in China: Evidence from the Provincial Data , 2003 .

[34]  Shoji Haruna,et al.  Trade patterns and international technology spillovers: evidence from patent citations , 2015 .

[35]  R. Gulati.  Network location and learning: the influence of network resources and firm capabilities on alliance formation , 1999 .

[36]  R. Blundell,et al.  Dynamic Count Data Models of Technological Innovation , 1994 .

[37]  B. Winterscheid,et al.  Technology development and transfer across national and organizational borders: The case of AT&T network systems Europe , 1994 .

[38]  Xiangdong Chen,et al.  Technology transfer to China: alliances of Chinese enterprises with western technology exporters , 2000 .

[39]  Jiancheng Guan,et al.  The impact of small world on patent productivity in China , 2013, Scientometrics.

[40]  Z. Griliches.  Patent Statistics as Economic Indicators: a Survey , 1990 .

[41]  陳煥文.  世界智慧財產權組織[The World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO] 仲裁規則評釋 , 1996 .

[42]  Lee Fleming,et al.  Small Worlds and Regional Innovation , 2006, Organ. Sci..

[43]  Jiancheng Guan,et al.  The impact of small world on innovation: An empirical study of 16 countries , 2010, J. Informetrics.

[44]  Zhiqiang Liu.  Foreign Direct Investment and Technology Spillover: Evidence from China , 2002 .

[45]  Thomas Baumert,et al.  Regional Systems of Innovation and the Knowledge Production Function: The Spanish Case , 2006 .

[46]  J. Katz,et al.  Structural reforms and technological behaviour: The sources and nature of technological change in Latin America in the 1990s , 2001 .

[47]  D. Leonard-Barton.  CORE CAPABILITIES AND CORE RIGIDITIES: A PARADOX IN MANAGING NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT , 1992 .

[48]  Lei Yang,et al.  Intellectual Property Rights, Technology Transfer and Exports in Developing Countries , 2008, SSRN Electronic Journal.

[49]  Ranjay Gulati,et al.  The Rise and Fall of Small Worlds: Exploring the Dynamics of Social Structure , 2013 .

[50]  Petr Hanel,et al.  Technology transfer to developing countries through engineering firms: The Canadian experience , 1995 .

[51]  Peter Mulder,et al.  Trade-Facilitated Technology Spillovers in Energy Productivity Convergence Processes across EU Countries , 2015 .

[52]  Matt Marx,et al.  Managing Creativity in Small Worlds , 2006 .

[53]  Po-Hsuan Hsu,et al.  Corporate Philanthropy, Research Networks, and Collaborative Innovation , 2014 .

[54]  Po-Hsuan Hsu,et al.  Corporate Philanthropy, Research Networks, and Collaborative Innovation: Corporate Philanthropy, Research Networks, and Collaborative Innovation , 2016 .

[55]  Jingjing Zhang,et al.  The impact of multilevel networks on innovation , 2015 .

[56]  Yifei Sun,et al.  China's National Innovation System in Transition , 2002 .

[57]  Matthew A. Shapiro,et al.  Quantifying the national innovation system: inter-regional collaboration networks in South Korea , 2010, Technol. Anal. Strateg. Manag..

[58]  M. Abramovitz.  Catching Up, Forging Ahead, and Falling Behind , 1986, The Journal of Economic History.

[59]  Bryan Dowd,et al.  Interaction Terms in Nonlinear Models , 2002 .

[60]  Ronald Rousseau,et al.  Mapping collaborative knowledge production in China using patent co-inventorships , 2011, Scientometrics.

[61]  Jeffrey L. Furman,et al.  The Determinants of National Innovative Capacity , 2000 .

[62]  J. Hagedoorn,et al.  The lag structure of the relationship between patenting and internal R&D revisited , 2014 .

[63]  Wolfgang Keller,et al.  Technology Transfer Through Imports , 2007 .

[64]  P. Fan.  Innovation in China , 2014 .

[65]  Elhanan Helpman,et al.  International R&D spillovers , 1995 .

[66]  Jianghua Zhou,et al.  Small worldliness, Chinese culture, and firm innovation performance: an empirical study based on patent collaboration data of China , 2015 .

[67]  K. Meyer.  International Business Research on Transition Economies , 2001 .

[68]  Elena Verdolini,et al.  At Home and Abroad: An Empirical Analysis of Innovation and Diffusion in Energy-Efficient Technologies , 2011 .