The spatial configuration of innovation networks in China
GeoJournal
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708
The spatial configuration of innovation networks in China
Guoqing Lyu 0 1
. Ingo Liefner 0 1
0 G. Lyu Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Science , Shanghai , China
1 G. Lyu (&) I. Liefner Institute of Economic and Cultural Geography, Leibniz University of Hannover , Hannover , Germany
China is rising and gradually developing into an innovation-oriented economy. This transition is fueled by public and private investment in education and by increasing inputs into science and technology. Little attention, however, has been paid to the great differences in China-specific context peculiarity. Hence, the paper assesses Chinese innovation networks using a comprehensive analytical model that includes network configuration, regional environment, government interference and firm attributes. The empirical analysis examines China's machinery manufacturing industry to test the determinants of the spatial character of Chinese innovation networks based on questionnaire surveys and illustrative cases. Our study finds that Chinese innovation networks are affected not only by innovation resource endowments and firm attributes, but also by government interference and regional culture. Regarding the influence of regional culture, the typical Northern culture with the importance of guanxi plays an important role in the process of searching for partners and makes the innovation network and interpersonal network interwoven. Firms' ownership and innovation ability are the two essential variables to determine whether any of the regional elements are of significance.
Innovation network; Regional environment; Government interference; Firm attributes; China; Introduction; Chinese innovation networks
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Over the past two decades, a large body of scholars in
economic geography has been preoccupied with
research on the interactive influence between firms
and regions
(Sternberg and Arndt 2001; Storper and
Venables 2004; Wang and Lin 2013; Fitjar and
Rodr´ıguez-Pose 2015)
. Significant theoretical
advancements have been made to understand the
dynamics of network composition and spatial
character
(Hennemann et al. 2012; Broekel 2015; Boschma
et al. 2017)
. Although there is a heated debate among
different research strands, an agreement has been
reached that innovation is fundamentally the
consequence of the interaction of firms with their
cooperative partners in nearby or distant locations.
Thus far, however, the existing theoretical
frameworks and empirical results have largely been based
on the studies in developed or western countries
(Howells and Bessant 2012; Zhang and Peck 2016)
,
which calls into question whether the findings can
explain the issues of emerging economies, particularly
those of China
(Wei and Liefner 2012)
.
China is rising and gradually developing into an
innovation-oriented economy. This transition is fueled
by public and private investment in education and by
increasing inputs into science, technology and R&D
(Liefner et al. 2016)
. Meanwhile, in the case of China,
the ongoing innovation process allows the coexistence
of a specific variety of actors, such as public R&D
institutes, universities, state-owned and private firms
et al. Little attention, however, has been paid to the
great differences in China-specific context peculiarity
(Hu and Lin 2013; Kafouros et al. 2015)
. Firstly, the
Chinese government is actively involved in innovation
activities not only in finance and other types of
support, but also as an important factor influencing the
trend of the network configuration, for example with
regard to the types of innovation activities carried out
and partners chosen for innovation
(Liefner and Zeng
2008; Hu and Lin 2013; Liefner and Jessberger 2016)
.
Secondly, although some Chinese privately owned
enterprises (POEs hereafter) have been successful in
terms of innovation, state-owned enterprises (SOEs
hereafter) normally dominate in certain industries and
easily gain access to large-scale subsidies
(Peighambari et al. 2014; Du and Mickiewicz 2016)
. They hence
possess the ownership-specific advantages for
obtaining innovation resources and benefit more easily from
the construction of multi-scale innovation networks
(Liefner and Zeng 2016)
. Thirdly, China’s science and
technology system is hierarchically organized
(Andersson et al. 2014; Huggins et al. 2014)
. Finally,
regions differ enormously with respect to culture, for
example a flexible Southern Chinese culture versus a
stability-oriented Northern Chinese culture, which
affects the strengths and functions of ties between
firms and their potential cooperation partners
(Park
and Luo 2001; Liefner and Zeng 2008; Fu et al. 2013)
.
One particular question hence still remains
regarding an analytical framework that explains the structure
of innovation networks in China in a more specific and
comprehensive manner. In this paper, we thus
examine the major factors affecting the spatial character (...truncated)