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The development logic of think tanks: Concepts, dynamics, and research characteristics Pei Ruimin, Yang Guoliang, Pan Jiaofeng 2022, 43(10): 1-11.  Abstract ( 295 )      Scientific decision-making is inseparable from the support of professional think tanks, but what is such an organization, what are its characteristics, and the driving force for its development and evolution have always been unsolved problems in the theoretical research and construction practice of think tanks. Facing the need for the modernization of national governance, China′s think tanks urgently need to transform and develop toward a high-quality path.     By using the methods of systematic literature review and content analysis, this study proposes a framework of “concepts-dynamics-research characteristics” to analyze the development and evolution of think tanks. First, this study investigates the basic concepts of think tanks and summaries the basic elements of a think tank; then, it combines the development and evolution of international and China′s think tanks, and studies the basic logic and evolution dynamics of think tanks in the development process; and finally, it proposes the development trend of think tank research.    The main conclusions include:     First, as a kind of decision-making consulting organization, the concept of a think tank has existed since ancient times, and it is embedded in different political systems and cultural systems, showing in a variety of organizational forms. The connotation and forms of think tanks have changed over time, which are based on the nation′s systems, ideologies, economics, and politics. Although there are certain differences in the definitions of think tanks in various documents, the concepts of think tanks have some basic elements: a think tank is a stable, independent, non-profit organization or institutional arrangement, born in response to public policies and revolving around policy issues, which carries out targeted knowledge production and reproduction to influence public opinion and serve government decision-making. The development and evolution of think tanks at home and abroad are closely related to the government′s consulting needs.     Second, think tanks are born in response to public policies. In the development process, think tanks have gradually clarified their positioning and roles in the national governance and global governance system, which are different from government department consulting institutions, policy research institutions, and consulting companies. From the national level, think tanks are knowledge production organizations that serve government decision-making and are independent of government administration. They effectively link the relationships among multiple subjects such as politics, science, business, media, and the public, and play a key role as the bridges and links between subjects. From a global perspective, think tanks play the role of “public diplomats”, building channels and platforms for countries to participate in global governance.     Third, the development of international modern think tanks is divided into four stages: the first stage is from the beginning of the 20th century to before World War II, the second is from the end of World War II to the 1960s, the third stage is during the Cold War, and the last stage is from the Cold War to the present. European and American think tanks started early, and after the 1870s and 1880s, Asian think tanks gradually emerged. Since the founding of the People′s Republic of China, the think tanks have been gradually established and improved, which are divided into the initial system formation stage and the modern think tank construction stage. The development trends of think tanks are enhanced specialization, scale, diversification, and institutionalization.      Fourth, there are five driving forces for the development and evolution of think tanks, which are technological change, uncertainty, interest demands, refined governance, and organizational evolution. The interaction between the five forces interprets the internal logic of the development and evolution of think tanks, jointly determines the research paradigm of think tanks′ transformation, and promotes think tank research towards a scientific and high-quality development path.    Fifth, think tank research needs to integrate multi-disciplinary knowledge and methods, and presents the convergent characteristics of interdisciplinarity, domain knowledge fusion, comprehensive application and innovation of theoretical methods, etc. Meanwhile, the convergent characteristics of think tank research have also led to innovations in the organizational form of think tank research.     This study provides a reference for understanding the internal logic of the development and evolution of think tanks and inspires the development direction of think tank research. For complex, comprehensive, and realistic decision-making issues, think tank research needs to integrate multidisciplinary knowledge and methods. At the same time, the change in the research paradigm of think tanks has spawned innovations in the form of think tank research organizations. The originality of this study is to propose the five forces model for the evolution of think tanks and analyze the characteristics and trends of think tank research. Related Articles | Metrics

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Can smart city increase the innovation investment to enterprises? Wang Fan, Zhang Lin, Ni Juan 2022, 43(10): 12-23.  Abstract ( 275 )      Cities gather all kinds of innovation resources, and the level of urban innovation plays an important role in high-quality economic development. Our government has been exploring the path of urban innovation, and "smart city" is one of them. In 2012, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development issued the Interim Measures for Administration of National Smart Cities (in pilot), marking the start of smart city construction at the national level. Subsequently, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development released the list of pilot cities in 2013 and 2014, and a total of 290 smart cities are on the pilot list, setting off a wave of smart city construction nationwide.      Smart city is the product of high-quality economic development. The construction of smart city is inseparable from the development of innovative enterprises in the city. In order to explore whether the R&D of registered enterprises can be improved and the channels for improvement after the smart city is rated as a pilot one, this paper tests the relationship between smart city and enterprise innovation. Enterprise innovation is an investment behavior with high risk, long payback period and large investment. One of the obstacles restricting enterprise innovation is the problem of capital. When the cash flow of the enterprise tends to be tight, the management will use the limited cash flow to maintain daily production and operation activities, so as to realize the contracts between the enterprise and stakeholders, but this will inevitably occupy the funds required for enterprise innovation. It is difficult and costly for enterprises to obtain R&D funds through debt and equity. However, government subsidies or tax preference do not require enterprises to pay costs and interests. In terms of smart city construction, the government guides enterprises′ R&D by issuing subsidies and promulgating preferential tax policies.      In addition, for enterprises, undertaking government smart city construction projects has many advantages. First, government subsidies or tax preference can be obtained; Second, it can improve its popularity and market share in a certain field; Third, it can increase the degree of association with the government to obtain more future government investment. The experimental results show that the smart city pilot has an innovation spillover effect. When the city is identified as a smart city pilot, the innovation level of registered enterprises will be significantly improved. The promotion channels are as follows: after the implementation of the pilot policy, the government has increased the special activity funds for enterprise innovation through government subsidies or tax preference, which has positively stimulated enterprise innovation. In addition, the heterogeneity test shows that compared with high financing constraint enterprises and state-owned enterprises, low financing constraint enterprises and the innovation spillover effect mainly affect low financing constraint enterprises and private enterprises; At the same time, it is more obvious in the high market competition environment and manufacturing industry.     Based on the above conclusion, this paper puts forward the following suggestions: first, the government should increase government subsidies or tax preference for smart cities. In the construction of smart cities, the increase of government subsidies or tax preference can enhance enterprise innovation. Therefore, we believe that the government can increase government subsidies or tax preference for smart cities. In particular, we should focus on increasing government subsidies or tax preference for enterprises with high market competition environment, manufacturing enterprises, enterprises with low financing constraints, and private enterprises, so as to give full play to the role of smart cities in promoting enterprise innovation.      Second, the government should strengthen the supervision of high financing constraint enterprises or private enterprises. Compared with low financing constrained enterprises and private enterprises, high financing constrained enterprises and state-owned enterprises are more likely to be used for operation or other investment after receiving government subsidies or tax preference. This is because these types of enterprises are more likely to lack funds, and are more likely to use government subsidies or tax preference for daily operations or short-term profit-making projects. Therefore, the government should strengthen supervision and urge these enterprises to use their government subsidies or tax preference for innovation.      Third, enterprises should take the initiative to seek government "matchmaking" for scientific research institutes. Scientific research institutes can provide a large number of talents for enterprise innovation, but some small, medium and micro technology enterprises do not have a channel to contact scientific research institutes. They can seek the government to hold contact meetings to strengthen cooperation with scientific research institutes and ensure enterprise R&D. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Research on the characteristics and locational factors of the agglomeration structure of science and technology service industry Wang Hongqi, Li Yingying, Wang Shanshan 2022, 43(10): 24-32.  Abstract ( 121 )      The agglomeration structure and function of science and technology service industry are closely related to the demands and conditions of regional innovation. Recent research shows that the existing functions and layout of science and technology service industry in China cannot meet the innovation service needs of high-tech manufacturing industries, so it is an urgent task to pay attention to the reasonable adjustment of science and technology service industry structure. By using the methods of Herfindahl Diversified Index (HDI), Location Entropy and Grey Correlation Degree Analysis, this paper makes analyses on the agglomeration scale, space-time distribution, structural characteristics and locational factors of science and technology service industry in China′s 31 provincial-level regions from the year of 2003 to 2018.      There are some important findings as follows. First, the science and technology service industry are highly concentrated in the developed provincial-level regions with high innovation level and large-scale innovation service demands, and the scale gap among provincial-level regions is gradually narrowing with time. Second, the evolution trends of the three sub formats for science and technology service industry are as follows: the specialized agglomeration of research & development service is growing and the agglomeration center shifts eastwards, the specialized agglomeration of professional technical service is decreasing and the agglomeration center shifts westwards, and the specialized agglomeration of science-technology promotion and application service is growing with characteristics of provincial uniform distribution. Third, the science and technology service industry mainly presents three characteristics of three agglomeration structure types of single format, one principal-one subsidiary and multi formats, two evolution trends that research & development service or science-technology promotion and application service may prevail in the future agglomeration structure, as well as four evolution paths of agglomeration structure. Fourth, the agglomeration structure of science and technology service industry is influenced by locational factors, while there are influencing factor differences among three service formats.      Combined with the characteristics of the agglomeration structure of science and technology service industry in China and the differences of location factors among provincial-level regions, this paper puts forward relevant countermeasures and suggestions for science and technology service industry development from four aspects: 1) promote the sequential and interactive development of science and technology service industry among provincial-level regions according to the heterogeneity of spatial distribution and location factors of science and technology service industry; 2) developed provincial-level regions should focus on the adjustment of the agglomeration structure, and less developed provincial-level regions should continue to promote the agglomeration degree of science and technology services; 3) make policies on science and technology service industry development based on the locational factors of each provincial-level region; and 4) focus on two sub formats of science and technology service industry in the future including research & development service and science-technology promotion and application service.     This research may be helpful for us to grasp the space-time evolution law and the locational factors of Chinese science and technology service industry agglomeration, and it has a positive role in optimizing regional science and technology service industry development planning and policy, improving the agglomeration structure of science and technology service industry and promoting the quality and level of science and technology service. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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A comparative study of the interdisciplinary characteristics of international papers among China, the USA and Japan Zeng Deming, Yu Yingjie, Wang Honglüe 2022, 43(10): 33-41.  Abstract ( 109 )       Over the past few decades, interdisciplinary research is widely considered a hothouse for innovation, and has garnered much attention within the scientific and academic communities. In fact, interdisciplinary research has become so popular that many universities are establishing interdisciplinary programs, and many countries have established various support programs to encourage interdisciplinary research.      Therefore, monitoring the evolution of interdisciplinary research is of great importance to help R&D scholars in their exploration of opportunities for interdisciplinary research, provide rationales for policy aimed at fostering interdisciplinary research as well as for policy direction corresponding to the future trend. Based on the fact, that technology convergence starts with convergence in science, it may be helpful to provide policy-makers clues with respect to furthering technology convergence that is potentially driven by science convergence. Along with these scientific and social attentions to interdisciplinary, academic research in interdisciplinary has shown a fast growth recently. However, very few studies have assessed the evolution of interdisciplinary over time. Our study attempts to fill this gap.     Based on the reliable and complete enumeration of paper data covering a 15-year period from the three countries, this study offers an in-depth comparative analysis of the evolution of interdisciplinary research among China, the USA and Japan. The results of our analysis suggest the following. First, the results confirm that interdisciplinary is a present feature of the current scientific innovation system in the three countries. And the absolute number of interdisciplinary papers in China has increased faster than in the USA and Japan. But the proportion of inter-divisional papers to interdisciplinary papers in China has declined in recent years. This implies that Chinese researchers should be encouraged to break down disciplinary barriers and promote convergence between more distant disciplines. These may produce more potentially fruitful outputs. Second, among all the interdisciplinary papers, more than 60% stem from two disciplines in the three countries. In addition, the proportion of convergence from more than two disciplines is higher in China than in the USA and Japan. Therefore, more opportunities for interdisciplinary in the future may come from combinations between more diverse disciplines. Third, our intuitive mapping of interdisciplinary network evidently describes the location of convergence in scientific disciplines. The interdisciplinary network characteristics show that network connectivity, cohesion, and average degree of China are lower than those of the USA and Japan. Furthermore, this paper investigates prominent discipline fusion combinations. The major discipline fusion combinations are different among the three countries. In addition, engineering sector occupies an important position in the interdisciplinary research of China. These results imply that apart from the initiatives that interdisciplinary research of China should cover and promote convergence between scientific disciplines, strategic planning for interdisciplinary through the quantitative monitoring of interdisciplinary of the other countries may be achievable.     However, our study also has certain limitations. First, interdisciplinary relationships can be studied at different levels, including papers, journals, research projects, etc. In this study, only papers of the three countries are analyzed. Second, different classification criteria of discipline may result in different results. Related Articles | Metrics

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The improvement routes of radical innovation capability under the context of resource constraints Li Shuwen, Luo Jinlian, Tang Huijie, Zhang Zhifei 2022, 43(10): 42-50.  Abstract ( 230 )      At present, enterprises are facing a critical period of technological transformation in China. Complex and changeable policy situation, highly volatile market environment and rapid iterative technical structure lead to the loss of competitiveness on the part of many enterprises. Only by changing according to the situation, conforming to the development trend and improving the radical innovation capability, can enterprises deal with the uncertain environment and obtain sustainable competitive advantage. Science and technology innovation enterprises are typical organizations with strong demand for radical innovation. Whether they can quickly improve the radical innovation capability is related to whether China has the leading power of core technology in specific fields and whether it can be invincible in the fierce competitive situation. However, the diversified characteristics of the innovation activities of science and innovation enterprises, such as the specific skill demand, the time limit of problem solving, the variability of innovation situation and the fuzziness of solution path, make enterprises always be troubled by resource constraints and path dependence in process of radical innovation. This poses a severe challenge for science and innovation enterprises to improve their radical innovation capability. To this end, it is an important issue to explore how science and innovation enterprises break resource constraints and path dependence, thereby improving the radical innovation capability.    To address the above problems, according to the theoretical sampling principle, this study selects HB biomedical enterprises as the research object. First of all, as the first domestic scientific and technological innovation enterprise focusing on the R&D of allergen diagnosis technology, it has created the domestic allergen diagnosis market and experienced the whole process of radical innovation. Second, in the process of innovation and development, the enterprise faced the problems of path dependence and resource constraints, and presents different resource constraints in different development stages. However, via good resource orchestration strategy, it broke the resource curse and resource constraints. Finally, in the field of autoimmune diagnosis, HB attaches great importance to the R&D of cutting-edge technologies. It is the first enterprise in China to span the technology platform from the mainstream second-generation backward technology to the internationally leading fourth-generation technology.     Based on the interview data of the HB, this study adopts an exploratory case analysis method, based on the theoretical logic of "cognition-resource-capability", to analyze how science and technology innovation companies break the resource curse and path dependence, thereby achieving radical innovation capabilities from the perspective of resource orchestration. The study found that in the incremental innovation stage, the market-leading oriented innovation mission urges firms to adopt resource patching strategies under resource scarce situations to provide information support for radical innovation capability that focus on changing the market situation. At the stage of moderate innovation, the innovation mission oriented at localization of products urges companies to adopt resource exploration strategies under resource-constrained situations, and supplies product resources for radical innovation capability centered on improving industry standards. In the fundamental innovation stage, the innovation mission oriented at technological autonomy in the context of resource extension prompts companies to adopt resource leveraging strategies, and provides technical conditions for radical innovation capabilities with the mastery of key technologies.    This study contributes to the literature in three ways. First, this study clarifies the formation mechanism of the innovation mission of science and innovation enterprises, which not only effectively complements the current organizational mission research horizontally, extends its influence mechanism research, but also expands the situational conditions of the organizational mission research vertically, and defines the specific connotation and causes of the innovation mission in different situations. Second, this study reveals that the innovation mission is the source power of the radical innovation capability, which effectively complements the theoretical gap of the formation power of the current radical innovation capability, helps to promote the academic discussion on the innovation management theory in the context of innovation mission driven, and also deepens the interpretation of the dynamic innovation situation from the perspective of the internal evolution. Finally, from the perspective of resource orchestration strategy, this study reveals how innovation missions in different innovation stages drive enterprises to achieve radical innovation capability, which promotes the research of "resource constraint situation" to expand from general organizational results to radical innovation capability with discontinuity and knowledge frontier. Related Articles | Metrics

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Research on forecasts and evaluation of emerging technologies for the aging society Huang Lucheng, Mi Lan, Wu Feifei 2022, 43(10): 51-60.  Abstract ( 106 )      Population aging is a major challenge that drives the future for the next 40 years, which is just as important as the environmental challenges. In many Asian and European countries, the proportion of the older population relative to the total population has greatly increased and is still increasing, which will bring serious social problems. More experts and governments began to pay more attention to the role of technology innovation in responding to the aging society. Science, technology and innovation are widely perceived to provide the means for solving this "grand challenge" of demographic ageing. Innovations for older persons are usually referred to as gerontechnology, which is composed of two words: gerontology and technology. The literal meaning is composed of gerontology that conducts scientific research on aging and research, development and design of products, services and methods. Among them, gerontology is the scientific research on the elderly, including biological, psychological, social and medical aspects of aging. Technology includes research and development and design of new and improved technologies, products and services, covering chemistry and physics of knowledge in the fields of construction, machinery, engineering, electronics, information, communication, and so on.〖JP〗 〖JP3〗However, there exists a lack of research on the prediction of emerging gerontechnology for the current aging society, moreover, the analysis node focuses on the post-analysis of known emerging gerontechnology and the analysis object is limited to a single technical field. These limitations lead to it impossible to clearly define which of the emerging technologies applied to the aging society. Besides, the current research does not conduct an overall analysis of emerging technologies for the elderly. This is seriously inconsistent with the huge role played by the global population aging in the economic and social development process, and it also reflects that the current scholars′ research on the emerging technologies of elderly science and technology is insufficient and the research has not paid enough attention. In this context, we take the gerontechnology as the research object, and use the emerging technology prediction as a means to study the problem of emerging technology prediction for the aging society. In addition, most of the current technical prediction studies are based on single patent data and literature data, which have the limitations of time lag and greater risk of prediction results.     In view of the above limitations, this paper combines the patent data and online network data, carries out patent semantic mining through text mining technology, draws patent map by combining spatial vector model and similarity calculation. Besides, this paper carries out the comparative analysis with network crawling expert opinion topic, so as to realize the prediction and evaluation of emerging technologies towards the aging society. To be specific, firstly, based on the Emerging Technologies to Support an Aging Population report released by the United States in 2019, we systematically sorted out and summarized the emerging technologies for the aging society, so as to determine the retrieval expression of patent technologies and collect patent data. Secondly, semantic mining and similarity algorithm are used to deeply explore patent themes and technology gaps in the whole field, so as to complete the preliminary identification of emerging technologies. Finally, a comparative analysis is made between the identification results and the more forward-looking expert network comment text. Through the comparative analysis method, the identification results are effectively evaluated and supplemented to reduce the risk of the predicted results.     The comparative analysis results based on patent data semantic mining and embedded real-time network data show that, emerging technology trends supporting the aging society can be summarized as: big data and information collection and processing technology for the elderly, travel assistance and protection technology for the elderly, medical care technology for the elderly, smart home technology for the elderly, remote nursing assistance system and technology for the elderly, and cognitive management technology for the elderly. As can be seen from the results, the overall level of social cognition of products and services for the elderly is constantly improving. In addition, the integration of technologies for the elderly and high-tech is deepening, the technical content of old-age care products is constantly improving, and the development of intelligent and precise old-age care has begun to take shape.      In the current global situation where the total supply of elderly technology products and services is seriously insufficient, the structure is unreasonable, and the level is not high, how to capture the "silver economy" contains huge industrial development space, and has become an important driving force for the economic growth of various countries. An aging country should increase investment in emerging technologies for the elderly, fully tap its development potential, build a strategic core of the emerging gerontechnology system in advance, and provide technical support for the cultivation of the elderly technology industry. Related Articles | Metrics

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Can the change in distribution method of financial subsidy promote enterprise innovation? Zhang Jianshun, Xie Hongtao 2022, 43(10): 61-70.  Abstract ( 113 )      The government′s rational distribution of financial subsidy to inspire enterprise innovation is an important path to realize the transformation of economic growth from factor-driven economy to innovation-driven economy. However, during the implementation of China′s financial subsidy policy, rent-seeking and fraudulent compensation problems have emerged. How to optimize the financial subsidy policy and improve the efficiency of the use of financial subsidy is an urgent problem to be solved. Based on the existing literature, this paper discusses the impact and mechanism of financial subsidy on enterprise innovation from the perspective of distribution of financial subsidy.     Based on the 2010-2015 national taxation survey data, this paper takes the reform of the competitive distribution of specific financial funds as a quasi-natural experiment, and uses the difference-in-difference method to examine the impact of competitive distribution procedure on enterprise innovation. The competitive distribution procedure means to transform the distribution of financial subsidy from one-to-one to one-to-many. The results show that, compared with the traditional distribution procedure, the competitive distribution procedure can better stimulate enterprise innovation. The average innovation investment will increase by 286,310 yuan, and the innovation intensity (the proportion of innovation investment in operating income) will increase by 0.176%. In order to ensure the applicability of the difference-in-difference method, this paper carries out a parallel trend test, the event study results prove that the parallel trend exists. The dynamic effect test shows that changes in the distribution procedure of financial subsidy have brought about a rapid increase in enterprise innovation input and innovation intensity in the following years.    This conclusion is still robust after a series of robustness tests. Specifically, using the average value of innovation input and the average value of innovation input intensity in the past three years as dependent variables to solve the worry that companies may whitewash innovation investment. By adding the province-level control variables and time polynomial interaction terms, and industry dummy variables to control the influence of different development trends between provinces and industries. Constructing a "hypothetical" treatment group for placebo testing, the results show that in the case of randomly determining the treatment group, the benchmark regression results are unlikely to appear.     Mechanism analysis results show that the competitive distribution procedure encourages enterprise innovation through two channels: "selection effect" and "certification effect". The selection effect means that the government can select high-innovation companies with stronger positive externalities based on the company′s innovation information and provide high financial subsidy. The certification effect means that the government grants financial subsidy according to the innovation ability of enterprises, so that financial subsidy can be used as a certification signal of the quality of enterprise innovation and solve the failure of the innovation financing market.     In order to comprehensively examine the impact of the competitive distribution procedure on enterprise innovation, the government behavior, market environment and enterprise scale are included in the analysis framework. The results show that increased pressure on GDP-based performance appraisal will weaken the effect of competitive distribution procedure on enterprise innovation. Besides, the increase in marketization will enhance the effect of competitive distribution procedure on enterprise innovation, meaning that good market competition environment helps to establish a fair and just competitive financial subsidy procedure. In addition, the competitive distribution procedure has a more obvious effect on small-scale enterprises′ innovation input. The reason may be that large-scale companies have stronger financing capabilities, and relatively speaking, the certification effect has limited effect on their innovation decision-making, while small companies have weak financing capabilities and need to use the government′s certification effect to ease the financing constraints encountered in the innovation process.     Based on the above conclusion, this paper puts forward the following suggestions. First, it′s necessary to actively promote the competitive distribution reform of financial subsidy, including the developing of a simple and efficient fiscal subsidy distribution process, reducing the burden of enterprise application, avoiding ownership discrimination and scale discrimination; and enhancing the independence and professionalism of the project review expert team. Second, changing the traditional GDP-based assessment system and adding enterprise innovation indicators to the assessment system, which can encourage officials to formulate policies in accordance with time and place to stimulate enterprise innovation. Third, it′s important to improve the level of marketization, clarify the decisive role of the market in the distribution of resources, and provide the necessary institutional conditions for the effective operation of the market mechanism. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The regulating effect of government price regulation on green technology innovation upgrading of enterprises Wang Mingyue, Li Yingming 2022, 43(10): 71-80.  Abstract ( 185 )      To build a beautiful China, a transfer from pursuing the speed of development to the quality of development is needed, and at the same time, we have to realize greenization of the existing production and lifestyle. The construction of market-oriented green technology innovation system proposed in the report of the 19th CPC National Congress is the research background of this paper and also the endogenous driving force to achieve high-quality development. On one hand, the mismatch between the cost and benefit of green technology innovation will reduce the enthusiasm of R&D investment of enterprises and lead to market failure. On the other hand, the allocation efficiency of high innovation elements in government′s market-oriented regulation brings superiority of promoting enterprises′ green technological innovation. In the past management practices in China, most of the green technologies were limited to the environment (ecology) friendly technology, which corresponds to the adoption of administrative orders and environmental regulations to drive enterprise technological innovation. In terms of theoretical research, domestic and foreign scholars have analyzed the connotation of green technological innovation, the factors affecting green technological innovation and the performance of green technological innovation from different perspectives by means of qualitative and quantitative methods.     However, there is a close relationship between green process innovation and green product innovation. Previous management practices and theoretical studies have not fully analyzed the inherent mechanism of enterprises′ green technology innovation driven by government′s market regulation; have not deeply explored the impact of government′s market regulation on heterogeneous of green technology innovation and its performance; have not fully identified the transmission path from enterprises′ green technology innovation to economic performance; and have not systematically studied the effectiveness of government′s market regulation on the transmission path.      Green technological innovation of enterprises is an effective measure to promote the decoupling of economic development and environmental pollution rapidly, and it is also an important driving force to achieve the goal of comprehensive sustainable development. Different types of green technological innovation are not completely independent, and are in the process of continuous upgrading. Mixing different types of green technological innovation together cannot distinguish its inherent characteristics, but also is not conducive to clarify the relationship between different types of green technological innovation; independent analysis of the impact of different government regulations on green technological innovation is not conducive to analysis of the relationship between the government and the market in the process of promoting green technological innovation, which cannot be answered clearly how to establish a market-oriented green technological innovation system.     Based on the survey data of 642 industrial enterprises, this paper conducts an empirical study on the relationship between government price regulation and green technology innovation upgrading of enterprises, trying to answer clearly the effect node and intensity of government price regulation in the dynamic evolution of green technology innovation. The results show that the upgrading path of green technological innovation is significant, that is, the development of end-pipe governance technology innovation is conducive to the derivation of green process innovation and green product innovation, and there is also a significant positive correlation between green process innovation and green product innovation. Second, the upgrading of green technological innovation is a partial intermediary relationship, and green technology innovation is an intermediary variable, and the proportion of indirect path is greater than that of direct path, that is, "end-pipe governance technology innovation→green technology innovation→green product innovation" is the main path of the upgrading of green technological innovation. Third, the government price regulation has a positive moderating effect on the upgrading of green technological innovation, but the regulatory nodes only exist in the upgrading process of green process innovation to green products, and the regulatory role of other nodes is not significant. Fourth, the government price regulation has a boundary effect on the relationship between green process innovation and green product innovation. Only when the government price regulation is greater than the critical value (-2.929), it will play a regulatory role, that is, the greater the intensity of government price regulation, the faster the green process innovation upgrades to green product innovation.      In the process of promoting green technology innovation and innovation upgrading, we should not be too fast, but follow certain laws of economic development and technological innovation. Especially in the stage of high-quality development, we should follow the internal law of green technology innovation and economic development. Secondly, the promotion of green technology innovation and upgrading should be based on the development basis of regions, industries and enterprises. Different assessment indicators should be designed at different stages, and assessment standards should be continuously improved to achieve the orderly upgrading of green technology innovation. Thirdly, with the continuous improvement of production and life green requirements, enterprises should pay attention to green process innovation and green product innovation at the same time, so as to improve the economic performance of enterprises. Enterprises facing resource constraints should give priority to green process innovation, gradually extend to green product innovation in the process of technological innovation, and improve the added value of innovation behavior. Thirdly, in the process of promoting green process innovation and upgrading, the government should make good use of price-based market regulation, that is, the direct price or relative price that affects the derivative products (services) of green technology innovation to promote innovation and upgrading, for example, green process innovation is based on subsidies, tax benefits, loan discounts, R&D funds plus deduction and accelerated depreciation of R&D equipment. Finally, in the management practice of promoting green technology innovation, all regions should constantly summarize the laws, adjust and optimize the regulatory intensity, otherwise it will directly affect the regulatory effect.      Through the above analysis, we can see more clearly how government′s market regulation promotes enterprises to innovate in green technology continuously. At the same time, it has a certain reference significance for the government to further optimize market regulation tools, and further understand how to build a market-oriented green technological innovation system. Related Articles | Metrics

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Can imperative environmental regulation help promote enterprises′ R&D innovation activities? Taking "Ten Measures on Air Pollution Prevention and Control" as an example Zhou Di, Peng Xiaoling, Huang Qing 2022, 43(10): 81-88.  Abstract ( 144 )      Since China′s reform and opening up, and with the continuous development of Chinese economy and the accelerated deepening of urbanization and industrialization, energy resource consumption and environmental pollution increases continuously. In order to prevent environment from further deterioration, China has put forward many environmental regulation policies. It is of great significance to study the impact of environmental regulations on corporate R&D and innovation activities for China to better achieve a win-win situation in environment and economy. This paper takes the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan ("Ten Measures on Air Pollution Prevention and Control") which is historically known as the most stringent environmental regulation as an example, combined with China′s micro-enterprise data from 2011 to 2017, to systematically investigate the impact of imperative environmental regulation on corporate innovation activities with the application of the DID (Difference-in-Difference) and DDD (Difference-in-Difference-in-Difference) methods.      The study shows that, no matter whether it is the overall effect from 2011 to 2015 or the year-by-year dynamic effect from 2014 to 2017, the Ten Measures on Air Pollution Prevention and Control plays no significant role in promoting corporate R&D and innovation activities. This conclusion is still valid after a series of robust tests including counterfactual tests, consideration of concurrent events, substitution variables. Through heterogeneity analysis, the result suggests that no matter whether it is a large-scale enterprise or a small-scale enterprise, they don′t have incentive to further increase R&D and innovation activities. Further mechanism analysis shows that although the government has increased financial support for the implementation of the Ten Measures on Air Pollution Prevention and Control, the funding of government didn′t directly support most of the companies in need. Many enterprises are inclined to pay pollution discharge fee or reduce production to evade the implementation. The reason is that enterprises will lose a lot of costs and reduce a large amount of revenue for most of the industrial products and factories need to be rectified while the implementation time is short. In that case, many companies tend to pay pollutant discharge fees or reduce production to escape from short-term implementation instead. What′s more, companies can maintain their own return on assets without R&D and innovation of their products and technology. It can be seen that, in the face of more and more severe environmental pollution, the government implements strict mandatory environmental regulations and puts the improvement of the environment first, which may not be able to effectively stimulate technological innovation of enterprises. As a result, based on the above research results, this paper suggests that the government should monitor the effects of policies in real time during the implementation of environmental regulations, appropriately increase the subsidies for green innovation of enterprises, attach importance to technological R&D and innovation of small and medium-sized enterprises, cultivate a market environment dominated by innovative technological products, and guide enterprises to take the initiative to carry out technology innovation.     This paper makes the following contributions in policy evaluation. First, it examines the impact of Ten Measures on Air Pollution Prevention and Control on corporate R&D and innovation from a micro perspective for the first time. Second, based on the Generalized DID (Difference-in-Difference) model, this paper further constructs a DDD (Difference-in-Difference-in-Difference) model to more accurately assess the impact of Ten Measures on Air Pollution Prevention and Control on enterprise R&D and innovation. Third, the paper attempts to analyze the impact mechanism of Ten Measures on Air Pollution Prevention and Control on corporate innovation behavior from two perspectives of corporate cash flow and return on asset in order to deeply analyze the corporate motivations when implemented environmental regulations. Related Articles | Metrics

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Overcoming organizational inertia: A study of the realization and evolution path of strategic renewal towards digitalization Cui Miao, Zhou Xiaoxue 2022, 43(10): 89-98.  Abstract ( 200 )      In digital economies, traditional enterprises are required to embrace digital activities in order to survive and thrive. Realizing strategic renewal towards digitalization has become the effective focus for traditional enterprise managers. Existing studies regard organizational inertia as a force hindering strategic renewal.  Scholars have proposed that organizational inertia will hinder enterprises from adapting to external environmental changes. Moreover, organizational inertia has different manifestations, such as cognitive inertia, action inertia etc.      In the context of traditional enterprises′ digital transformation, the existence of cognitive inertia leads managers to rely on previous successful knowledge and experience to solve current problems, and refuse or postpone digital activities. In addition, the existence of action inertia leads organization members to adhere to the original behavior pattern in the face of major environmental changes. It can be seen that the key challenges traditional enterprises face in carrying out strategic renewal towards digitalization is how to break the constraints of organizational inertia.    When existing cognitions and actions are not enough to understand the key signals in the environment, organizational learning is considered to be an important factor to overcome organizational inertia and correct errors to adapt to environmental changes. However, previous studies usually focus on overcoming organizational inertia by organizational learning in none-digital context. With the development of digital technology, the previous organizational objectives, practices and rules of traditional enterprises are no longer effective. Thus organizational managers and employees need to carry out organizational learning to fundamentally change their way of thinking and actions to adapt to the external environment. However, extant literature has not given sufficient attention to the question of how traditional enterprises should overcome organizational inertia through organizational learning to realize strategic renewal towards digitalization.      Based on the above research gap, this paper selects Forest Cabin as the research object for exploratory single case study. From the perspective of organizational learning, this paper aims to explore the path of traditional enterprises to realize strategic renewal towards digitalization, and provide a theoretical basis and useful reference for enterprises to use organizational learning to overcome organizational inertia to realize strategic renewal towards digitalization in digital economies.    The theoretical contribution of this study includes two aspects: firstly, this study describes the process of how organizational learning overcomes organizational inertia to realize strategic renewal towards digitalization. Although existing research points out that organizational inertia is the force that hinders strategic renewal, it has not been extended to the digital context. This study suggests that strategic renewal towards digitalization activities of traditional enterprises have gone through several stages: digital exploration, digital promotion and digital empowerment. In each stage, we should focus on overcoming different types of organizational inertia, which are manifested in turn as cognitive inertia, action inertia and business model inertia. And different organizational learning modes are adopted in each stage to overcome organizational inertia.    Secondly, this paper reveals the evolution path of traditional retail enterprises represented by Forest Cabin, which has experienced the evolution from IT end, marketing end to process end. It enriches the research on the evolution perspective of strategic renewal towards digitalization. In the digital exploration stage, traditional enterprises initially upgrade and improve digital infrastructure. With the external technological environment change and the promotion of digital activities, it is urgent to establish a digital channel linking consumers. Especially for traditional retail enterprises, it is an effective transformation path to firstly retain customer information and then gradually meet the needs of consumers. Finally, enterprises gradually integrate online and offline activities and build digital based operation processes.    The practical enlightenment includes three aspects: firstly, under digital economies, traditional enterprises face the inertial forces of cognition, action and business model when carrying out digital activities. Managers should give full attention to the key role of organizational learning to overcome cognitive and action obstacles in transformation and upgrading. Secondly, managers should vigorously promote the application of digital tools within the enterprise and break the inertia of action. Thirdly, enterprises should strengthen the integration of online and offline to further overcome the inertia of business model.  References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Research on the path of improving strategic performance of state-owned enterprises through "mixed reform" and integration: A comparative analysis of two cases from the perspective of dual innovation theory Xie Maohua, Wang Jiao, Liu Tiexin 2022, 43(10): 99-115.  Abstract ( 142 )      The main goal of the reform and integration of state-owned enterprises is to improve the capital structure of state-owned enterprises, cultivate a competitive and innovative governance system, and effectively improve the operational efficiency of state-owned enterprises. However, the existing theoretical research shows that there is no consistent conclusion on whether the integration of state-owned enterprises can improve the operational efficiency and performance of state-owned enterprises. From the perspective of innovation mode, and based on the theory of dual innovation and the method of dual case comparison, this paper discusses the influence path and mechanism of innovation mode on strategic performance in different stages of mixed reform and integration. It is found that in the preparation stage of mixed reform and integration, the utilization innovation is more beneficial to improve the strategic performance of enterprises. While, in the stage optimization of mixed reform and integration, innovation is more conducive to improving the strategic performance of enterprises.     To be specific, in the preparation stage of mixed reform and integration, enterprises can improve the industrial structure, advance the operation efficiency, increase production capacity, explore problems of existing technologies, raise product qualification rate and improve internal processes through utilization innovation, actively enhance the enthusiasm of employees, provide customers with quality products, so that this can escalate the number of existing customer groups and the level of customer satisfaction, gradually expand the market share, constantly increase the return on equity, thus improving the overall strategic performance. However, in this stage, enterprises, by using the exploratory innovation modes, usually spend a large amount of capital to expand the scale of production lines, and new technologies are not mature and the control over product quality is neglected. As a result, a large amount of capital is invested in new technical renovation project, but after-sales service fails to catch up with the selling. This leads to excess production capacity, internal process slip, reduction of new product qualification rate, difficulties in broadening sales channels, and decline of market share in some regions. Furthermore, it may cause a decline in corporate profits and reduction of financial dimension.      Therefore, in the preparation stage of mixed reform and integration, the successful application of utilization innovation will be more beneficial to the strategic performance improvement of state-owned enterprises. On one hand, the employment mechanism, reward mechanism and performance feedback mechanism are no longer suitable for the current development of enterprises. So, the motivation of employees is not sufficient to undertake the work and their enthusiasm is at a low level. On the other hand, enterprises still target their sales groups at existing customers, and fail to effectively explore new markets and new customers, thus resulting in narrow sales channels and a decline of customer satisfaction.      In addition, the main research still focused on the transformation of existing products and the improvement of existing technologies, the research and development of new technologies being at a low level, the introduction of professional talents cannot meet the demands, the research and development process limited by professional technologies, and the improvement of learning and growth of employees is not obvious, which leads to issues on the advance of internal processes and reduction of strategic performance indicators. Whereas, by means of exploratory innovation, enterprises can actively introduce technical talents and research and development personnel, carry out novel research and development of new technologies and new products, so as to optimize their production mode, significantly increase product quality, sharply lower product cost, thus improving their internal processes in all aspects to reach a high level. At the same time, attention should be paid to cultivate employee′s learning ability and to promote a new business model, actively expand sales channels, excavate potential customer base, and significantly increase strategic performance. The problem of integration in many aspects in the process of mixing and reforming is effectively solved, and the production and operation are relatively stable.      Therefore, in order to further improve the performance of state-owned enterprises, they should actively explore innovation paths, so as to finally enhance the vitality of enterprises and competitiveness of enterprises. It can be seen that exploratory innovation, which can realize differentiation advantage, is more significant to improve the strategic performance of enterprises in the stage of hybrid reform, integration and optimization. On this basis, the theoretical path of the impact of innovation on the strategic performance of enterprises in the stage of mixed reform and integration is constructed from the perspective of dual innovation.      The practical enlightenment is as follows: firstly, in the process of reform of state-owned enterprises, it is necessary to implement the innovation-driven development strategy, so as to effectively improve the innovation ability of enterprises. Innovation is the main means to improve the strategic performance of enterprises during their reform. Although different innovation methods have different effects on improving the strategic performance of enterprises at different stages of mixed reform, the implementation of innovation-driven development strategy for effective improvement of the innovation ability of enterprises is still the only way for the mixed reform of state-owned enterprises to achieve their strategic performance.      Secondly, in the process of reform of state-owned enterprises, the concept of dual innovation should be integrated into each stage, in order to lead the development by innovation and realize the complementary advantages of enterprise resources and elements with the help of different types of innovation. While implementing the mixed reform and integration, enterprises should pay attention to the impact of different innovation methods on enterprise resources. Whether in the preparation stage or in the optimization stage of mixed reform and integration, enterprises should choose the suitable innovation methods which will have a positive impact on their strategic performance, identify the impact of the development path of innovation methods on strategic performance, and improve strategic performance accordingly, so as to achieve the strategic goal of mixed reform and integration. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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A meta-analysis of the relationship between boundary-spanning search and firm innovation performance Wang Wanqiu, Gong Huimin, Guo Jing 2022, 43(10): 116-126.  Abstract ( 118 )      At present, enterprises are in a dynamic environment where technologies, products and services are rapidly iterating, and the artificial intelligence technology is deeply integrated with traditional industries. It is difficult to maintain a competitive advantage by relying on existing knowledge and resources for closed innovation activities. As an important way for enterprises to obtain heterogeneous knowledge and break through the ability trap as well as the innovator′s dilemma beyond the existing knowledge boundary, boundary-spanning search has attracted extensive attention from academia and managers. Since the concept of "boundary-spanning search" was proposed by Rosenkopf et al in 2001, much more efforts have been devoted to relevant research for almost 20 years, and a large amount of literature has been accumulated.     In this study, the meta-analysis method was introduced into the quantitative integration of 53 papers, 26,812 samples, and 55 effect sizes in the field of boundary-spanning search and firm innovation performance, and the following three conclusions were drawn.      First, the boundary-spanning search behavior can promote the firm innovation performance. Second, country differences, industry characteristics, innovation ability can adjust the contribution of boundary-spanning search to the firm innovation performance. Specifically, compared with other countries, boundary-spanning search has a greater positive effect on the firm innovation performance in China; compared with non-manufacturing enterprises, boundary-spanning search is more effective in improving firm innovation performance for manufacturing enterprises; compared with high-innovation enterprises, boundary-spanning search brings a more significant improvement to the low-innovation enterprises. Third, the type of boundary-spanning search across knowledge boundaries determines the degree of improving the innovation performance. Among the various types, for different search scope, expanding the search width has a greater positive effect on innovation performance than strengthening the search depth; for different geographical boundaries, local search takes greater effect for innovation performance promotion than non-local search; in terms of knowledge types, the impact of market knowledge is more effective than technical knowledge on innovation performance in boundary-spanning search.      Theoretically, this study quantitatively integrated multiple independent studies in the field of boundary-spanning search, and concluded the positive impact of boundary-spanning search on firm innovation performance. Furthermore, differences in the impact of boundary-spanning search on innovation performance by search types and different enterprise characteristics such as industry and innovation ability are also discussed. In particular, the classification and integration of the boundary-spanning search research in the context of China, while providing theoretical reference and practical basis for boundary-spanning activities in China, has also developed a study on the mechanism of environmental factors in boundary-spanning search. Moreover, this study also found that the boundary-spanning search has a more significant positive effect on the firm innovation performance under higher economic activity and higher innovation demand.      In practice, this study provides empirical evidence and decision-making basis for enterprises to strategically arrange the focus and methods of boundary-spanning search in order to obtain sustained external heterogeneous resources, and to break through the constraints of capability potential and resource thresholds. In addition, companies should fully consider the heterogeneous impact of boundary-spanning search on firm innovation performance, and rationally allocate limited searches resources and attention based on their own industry characteristics, innovation capabilities, resource needs, etc. as well as the external conditions such as the development speed of the region. Finally, to realize the upgrade to "intelligent manufacturing" in China, enterprises need to cultivate an open culture, take the initiative to continuously learn external technology, products, and market knowledge through boundary-spanning search, and effectively integrate internal and external knowledge to promote innovation capabilities. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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How do organizations carry out business model innovation in an inert atmosphere? Wang Bingcheng, Zhao Jingyi, Jiang Liwen 2022, 43(10): 127-135.  Abstract ( 111 )      With the constant development of market demands, business model innovation has become an important way for enterprises to create value and enhance competitiveness, which is conducive to the sustainable development of enterprises. However, enterprises are prone to form "inertia", which is manifested as "take things as they are" or "path dependence". According to the path-dependence theory, once an enterprise chooses the development path of a certain business model, it will become dependent on it, and make limited relevant decisions. In reality, large traditional retail enterprises such as Carrefour and Metro have failed to innovate their business models in a timely manner as changes in the Chinese retail market occur but adhered to their original concepts and models, which leads to a gradual withdrawal from the Chinese market. Therefore, how to carry out business model innovation is an urgent problem to be solved when an organization is in a state of inertia.    Based on this, this paper takes the traditional retail enterprises as samples and uses the grounded theory method to explore the process of business model innovation in the inert atmosphere. In this study, data is obtained from various channels, and primary data and secondary data is combined to increase the richness of data. Firstly, relevant data are labeled, conceptualized and categorized by open coding to identify the initial category. Then the main category is obtained by using spindle coding. Finally, through selective coding, the relationship structure between main categories is established and the core categories are further identified, so as to form a story line according to the connections among categories, and finally the business model innovation process model of the organization under the inert atmosphere is constructed.    This paper draws the following conclusions: (1) Environmental pressure urges organizations to reflect on existing business models, and then take measures to carry out business model innovation. (2) The effective combination of initiative forgetting, learning and borrowing in knowledge construction is more conducive for organizations to carry out business model innovation in an inert atmosphere. Firstly, organizations can forget the old norms, systems and performance standards through initiative forgetting, so as to reduce their dependence on the original business model. Secondly, organizations should change the internal innovation atmosphere through learning and actively explore and optimize the new business model. Finally, developing new business models requires borrowing existing organizational resources to make appropriate connections between the old and new business models. (3) Organizations network embedding also has an important influence on the knowledge construction process of business model. Relationship embedding enables organizations to acquire explicit and implicit knowledge through information sharing, mutual trust and commitment. Structural embedding reflects the position of organizations in the network, and affects the heterogeneity of organizations′ acquisition of business model innovation knowledge. (4) On the basis of knowledge construction, enhancing the improvisation ability of the organization is conducive to improving the immediacy and creativity of business model innovation, so as to better weaken organizational inertia and promote business model innovation.     The theoretical and practical significance of the paper lies in: (1) Current research on the influencing factors of business model innovation rarely discusses the obstacles to innovation, and lacks enough attention to the inert characteristics of organizations in business model innovation. This paper makes a systematic analysis of how do organizations carry out business model innovation in an inert atmosphere, so as to enrich relevant research; (2) This paper reveals the role of environmental pressure, organizational reflection, knowledge construction, network embedding and organizational improvisation in the transformation process from inertia to business model innovation, which provides theoretical reference for enhancing the flexibility of business model innovation and helps guide the practice of business model innovation. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The driving force of state-owned enterprises′ social responsibility realization: A study based on the endogenous perspective Shang Hua, Yin Hailei, Dong Dahai, Guan Wenxin 2022, 43(10): 136-149.  Abstract ( 213 )       Fulfilling social responsibilities is an inherent attribute of state-owned enterprises, which support the economic foundation of the socialist system and bear the mission and responsibility of China′s economic and social development. The performance of their social responsibilities affects not only the development of the enterprises themselves, but also the interests of the country and the public, so their social responsibility is endogenous. However, at present, the overall level of social responsibility of state-owned enterprises is relatively low. Social responsibility management needs to be improved urgently, and there is a general problem of insufficient endogenous awareness. State-owned enterprises do not closely link social responsibility with the long-term development of the enterprise and social stability, and have insufficient initiative to fulfill social responsibility.     In view of the problems existing in the status quo of state-owned enterprises′ fulfillment of social responsibilities, this paper firstly analyzes the endogenous connotation of state-owned enterprises′ social responsibility based on the economic, political and social characteristics of state-owned enterprises and the general corporate social responsibility theory. State-owned enterprises should take social responsibilities into consideration, taking into account their own development and social stability, and acting on the economic, environmental and social fields. Then, the sources of social responsibility driving force of state-owned enterprises are divided into two levels: enterprise development vision and responsibility fulfillment mission. The development vision is reflected in the state-owned enterprises gradually changing from "passive" to "active" in fulfilling social responsibilities in order to achieve long-term goals, so as to achieve "win-win" between enterprises and society. The mission of fulfilling responsibilities is reflected in the fact that state-owned enterprises are affected by the nature and political status of the enterprise, perform social responsibilities under the supervision of the state, and achieve "mutual benefit" between enterprises and society. Based on the endogenous perspective, combined with the triple bottom line principle, this paper uses the idea of system dynamics to construct a dynamic model of the structure and connection between the social responsibility systems of state-owned enterprises from the three dimensions of economic performance, social performance and environmental performance. According to the classification of commercial first-class, commercial second-class and public welfare state-owned enterprises, seven representative state-owned enterprises were selected to analyze the changes in the level of corporate social responsibility and development capacity from a systematic perspective from 2016 to 2022. By measuring the contribution and loss of social responsibility in different dimensions, and observing the causal link and long-term dynamic changes of various variables that affect the performance of social responsibility, the main driving dimensions of different types of state-owned enterprises′ performance of social responsibility are explored.     The results show that different types of state-owned enterprises have different emphasis on social responsibility performance due to their different nature and business, and there are differentiated social responsibility realization models. The performance of social responsibility by commercial first-class state-owned enterprises focuses on the market economy. The driving force of social responsibility is mainly supported by economic performance. The level of social responsibility is relatively low, and the enterprise development capability is medium. The performance of social responsibility by commercial second-class state-owned enterprises focuses on political security. The driving force of social responsibility is supported by economic performance, environmental performance and social performance. The relative level of social responsibility is the highest, and the enterprise development ability is the strongest. Public welfare state-owned enterprises focus on the social environment in fulfilling social responsibility. The driving force of social responsibility is constrained by the economic development of the enterprise, and the level of social responsibility is medium, enterprise development ability is the lowest.     The research suggests that on the basis of function definition, it is advisable to carry out the classification reform of state-owned enterprises in different ways. By combining social responsibility cognition with government supervision, making overall plans, focusing on key points, and internalizing corporate social responsibility performance into the basic components of state-owned enterprises′ transformation and development, can the vision and mission of state-owned enterprises′ fulfillment of social responsibility be unified. Clarifying the functional positioning of different types of state-owned enterprises will help improve the pertinence, effectiveness and scientificity of different types of state-owned enterprises in fulfilling their social responsibilities, and help state-owned enterprises to continuously improve and upgrade their social responsibility systems. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The influence of internal control professional competence on management and control of R&D funds Liu Bin 2022, 43(10): 150-159.  Abstract ( 95 )      Corporate innovation activities are widely considered to be high-risk business activities, which are manifested in the uncertainty of innovation input and output, which poses challenges to the management and control of corporate R&D funds. The board of directors is the leader of enterprise innovation activities and the decision maker of innovation input, as well as the core of leadership for internal control and risk management. At the same time, corporate innovation activities have high-risk characteristics, and R&D fund management and control require "professional" quality and experience, that is, R&D fund management and control "professional competence". This paper uses the 2011-2018 data of corporate R&D and members of board of directors, to test the "professional competence of internal control" on corporate R&D fund management and control behavior and effect.    The study finds that: (1) The "professional competence of internal control" has a positive impact on corporate R&D fund management and control behavior, including a higher proportion of "capitalized" R&D investment in accounting treatments (confidence in management and control methods) and a higher proportion of R&D investment funds (confidence in investment). (2) Positive changes in "professional competence of internal control" of the board of directors also positively affect the confidence of R&D fund management and control behavior, including the more confident the R&D fund management and control methods and investment intensity. (3) Further research finds that the "professional competence of internal control" has positive impacts on the growth of corporate R&D investment, and the faster the number of R&D patent applications and authorizations.     The significance of this paper is, on the one hand, to introduce the behavioral factor of the "professionalism" of internal control into the field of corporate R&D funds management, which has theoretical significance to fill the partial research gap in this field. On the other hand, it verifies the correlation between corporate innovation activities and internal-control competence, and provides information on how innovative boards of directors can better perform their duties in corporate innovation activities and capital management and control. Correspondingly, put forward the basis for behavioral decision-making and policy recommendations based on the situation, and realize the practical value of the "professional competence of internal control" of board of directors.     The contributions of this paper are as follows: first, it is found that the "professional competence of internal control" has a positive impact on corporate R&D fund management and control behavior, including the confidence in the R&D fund management and control method and the confidence in the R&D fund investment. Among them, the degree of confidence in the management and control of R&D funds uses the "capitalized" R&D investment ratio (ROCR&D) indicator, which is significantly different from the indicators used by previous scholars. Second, it is found that "professional competence of internal control" of the board of directors and its positive changes, affect the confidence of R&D funds management and control behavior. In detail, the higher the "professional competence of internal control" (or the higher its positive change), the higher the proportion of "capitalized" R&D investment in accounting treatment, and the higher the proportion of corporate R&D investment, which shows that corporate is more confident in R&D capital management behavior. Third, it is found that the "professional competence of internal control" of the board of directors in the management and control effect of R&D funds, including: the higher the "professional competence of internal control", the bigger the R&D investment, and the faster the number of R&D patent applications and authorizations. The findings above highlight the important role and application value of the "professional competence of internal control" of board of directors in the management and control of corporate R&D funds.     Based on empirical conclusions, the "professional competence of internal control" could play an important role in the management and control of corporate R&D funds, which is not only reflected in the more confident fund management and control behavior, but also in the better effect of fund management and control. Thus, we recommend that corporate shareholders′ meetings, corporate boards and external supervisory agencies actively guide all board members to develop the professional cultivation of "professional competence of internal control" in order to better perform their duties in the management and control of corporate R&D funds. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Research on the growth law of outstanding scientists——Case on Nobel Science Prize winners and academicians of Chinese Academy of Sciences Mu Rongping, Liao Yuan, Chi Kangwei 2022, 43(10): 160-171.  Abstract ( 184 )      Accurately grasping the growth law of outstanding scientists is an important guarantee for the forward-looking and targeted formulation of policies for science, technology and innovation talents. This study comprehensively uses the combination of statistical analysis, comparative analysis and literature analysis to conduct an in-depth analysis of the growth law of the Nobel Science Prize winners from 1901 to 2021 and the academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It was found that: (1) Outstanding scientists made major achievements at the age of 35~45, and the average age at which their major scientific contributions were recognized by the academic community was 57~58. The average age of Nobel Science Prize winners is on the rise, while the average age of academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is on the decline. (2) It is relatively short for major achievements in chemistry, life sciences and medicine to be recognized, while it is relatively long for major achievements in physics and other fields to be recognized. (3) Outstanding scientists usually have a good scientific education background, and have conducted high-level scientific research work and academic exchanges on the world-class academic research platforms, and have grown up in a first-class academic environment. (4) The emergence of outstanding scientists shows strong community effects and obvious mentoring relationships. The mentoring relationship is an important factor in the growth of outstanding scientists, and learning from famous scientists can effectively promote the growth of scientists. Based on the conclusions, this study proposes two policy implications for supporting outstanding scientists and young science, technology and innovation talents. Related Articles | Metrics

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The impact of knowledge search on innovation legitimacy from the perspective of decision rationality Feng Xiaobin, Ma Xiaoshu 2022, 43(10): 172-179.  Abstract ( 86 )      In the context of transformation and upgrading, enterprises try to make transformation through innovation in products, processes or business models, but the success of innovation activities is relied on legitimacy. Innovation legitimacy indicates the degree of recognition and acceptance of innovation activities by external stakeholders under the constraints of social norms and other systems. Although the impact of knowledge or resource on innovation legitimacy has attracted much attention, the relevant researches about the effect of knowledge search on innovation legitimacy have been neglected, and the decision-making situation of this impact has not been revealed. Moreover, causal reasoning and effectual reasoning are complementary to each other, but the mechanism differences of the two decision-making rationalities and the integration effect between them need to be further explored. Integrating the theory of knowledge search, innovation legitimacy and decision rationality, this paper constructs the model of adaptive search and transformative search on innovation legitimacy, as well as the moderating models of causal reasoning and effectual reasoning.      This paper firstly defines and analyzes the relevant theories and concepts of knowledge search, innovation legitimacy and decision rationality based on the literature review. The conceptual model of knowledge search effects on innovation legitimacy is put forward based on theoretical discussion. Then, data of 212 manufacturing enterprises in Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta are used to testify the research hypothesis with statistical methods, such as correlation analysis, reliability and validity analysis, and multilevel regression analysis. The results show that adaptive search has an inverted U-shaped effect on innovation legitimacy, while transformative search has a U-shaped effect on innovation legitimacy. Causal reasoning strengthens the relationship between adaptive search and innovation legitimacy, but weakens the relationship between transformative search and innovation legitimacy. However, effectual reasoning weakens the relationship between adaptive search and innovation legitimacy, but strengthens the relationship between transformative search and innovation legitimacy. Furthermore, the duality decision rationality of causal reasoning and effectual reasoning positively moderates the relationship between adaptive or transformative search and innovation legitimacy.      This research not only enriches the knowledge search and decision-making rationality, but also provides theoretical reference for manufacturing enterprises to obtain the innovation legitimacy and realize the transformation. Firstly, enterprises should balance the use of adaptive search and transformative search strategy to break through the "legitimacy threshold" of innovation at different stages of entering the market. Secondly, enterprises should pay more attention to the match of managers′ decision-making rationality and knowledge search strategy, so as to obtain innovation legitimacy. Finally, enterprises should use the duality decision rationality of causal reasoning and effectual reasoning to obtain diversified knowledge and avoid falling into the extreme situation of decision-making, so as to use different search strategies to enhance the support of stakeholders for innovation.  References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The impact of patent acquisition strategy on firm performance: A study from the integrating perspective of application and maintenance decisions Zheng Ying, Huang Junwei 2022, 43(10): 180-191.  Abstract ( 106 )      Previous studies on the relationship between patent acquisition and firm performance usually focus on the effect of static indicators including application number and valid number on performance. While, in practice, patent acquisition is a dynamic strategic process co-determined by two crucial decisions: application and renewal. Firms show heterogeneity not only on the volume indicators such as application number and abandonment number, also on the dynamic feature including velocity of application and abandonment. It is necessary to assess the effect of patent acquisition from a dynamic and holistic view. This study will try to fill this research gap by evaluating the results of the general and changing patent acquisition strategy.    In order to operationalize the velocity of patent acquisition, we introduce two concepts, application rate and abandonment rate. The higher of the rate, the more aggressive the acquisition strategy is. Firstly, we propose that application rate is positive related to performance since active application might come with new competitive advantage. Secondly, abandonment leads to sunk cost and the termination of value creating of certain patents, so we also propose a negative interaction effect of application rate and abandonment rate to integrate the effect of these decisions. Lastly, we try to examine how different acquisition strategy match with other factors of firm. We propose the moderating effect of firm technology strategy, strategic change and organizational slack on the relationship between acquisition strategy and performance respectively.     To test the above hypotheses, we collect data from 1983 public listed companies during 1992 to 2017. The patent number of all these firms in the observation period is 717,419, while we only keep 179,154 invention patents, since invention patents are more innovative and strategic than the other two types of patents. The final firm-year observation used in estimation is 10,501. The OLS regression is selected as the estimation strategy based the panel data set fixed effect. Multicollinearity and heteroscedasticity problems are addressed as well. We also provide robustness test by replacing dependent variable and examining the interaction effect by three interaction items instead of sample splitting.     Based on the empirical results of data, we find that vigorous applications have a positive impact on performance, and simultaneously aggressive abandonment does not necessarily lead to poor performance, which does not support hypothesis. While, the moderating effect results further indicate that negative interaction effect between these two decisions occurs when companies undergo strategic changes or maintain low organizational slack. Also, the interaction effect is positive when firm implement a diversified technology strategy. These findings show that the effect of acquisition strategy on performance is dependent on the three moderating variables, and aggressive acquisition might work in certain situations.       This study makes several contributions to the literature. First, this research evaluates patent decisions from a dynamic perspective, by introducing the definition and measurement of the aggressiveness of acquisition strategy. Second, this study supplements the patent strategy theory through the integration of application and renewal decision-making. An important contribution of this research is to theoretically integrate the two strategies of application and renewal into the framework of the acquisition strategy, and empirically test the joint impact of these two strategies on corporate performance. Third, this study enriches the theory of patent strategy by testing the applicability of acquisition strategy. We examine the contextual factors from three aspects: the concentration of technology strategy, the stability of overall strategy and the abundance of organizational slack, thus extending the theoretical understanding of the application boundary of patent strategy theory.     This study also offers some practical implications for firms to formulate and implement patent strategies, and then give full play to the strategic benefits of patents. Resource investment is required for each stage of patent R&D, application, maintenance and commercialization. Therefore, the strategy of applying and maintaining patents as much as possible in reality is not applicable to all enterprises. Only by controlling the operating cost of the patent right portfolio within the resource constraints of the enterprise and meeting the strategic needs of the enterprise can the maximum benefit be obtained through the lowest cost. The conclusion of this study points out that when a company implements diversified technology strategy, is in a period of strategic stability, or has organizational slack, a radical patent acquisition strategy is more effective. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Research on the measurement and influencing factors of the agglomeration degree of marine science and technology talents in China Sun Linjie, Sun Wanjun, Gao Ziqi 2022, 43(10): 192-199.  Abstract ( 104 )      The agglomeration of marine science and technology talents is an important means to realize the strategy of building a strong maritime country. By means of measuring the agglomeration degree of marine science and technology talents in different areas and analyzing the influencing factors, we can guide the reasonable flow and agglomeration of marine science and technology talents, which is very important for improving the social and economic problems caused by unreasonable agglomeration of marine science and technology talents. What is the current situation of marine science and technology talents agglomeration in China? What are the influencing factors of marine science and technology talents agglomeration? This paper aims to solve these two problems.       Taking the data of the 11 coastal provinces and cities in China from 2006 to 2015 as a sample, we used the talent location entropy method to measure the agglomeration degree of marine science and technology talents in coastal areas from 2006 to 2015, and made a comparative analysis of the differences on different cities. Overall, the agglomeration of marine science and technology talents in coastal areas presents an unbalanced state. Economically developed cities are at a higher level of marine talents agglomeration. We can draw a conclusion roughly according to the change of the talent location entropy index of each province and city. In the past ten years, the main export places of talents are Shanghai and Tianjin, which are relatively developed. The main input places of talents are provinces which are concentrated in the northern and central coastal regions, while the overall change of the southern coastal areas is not obvious.      Based on the perspective of talent ecological environment, and combined with the characteristics of marine science and technology talents, we used ordinary panel regression and spatial quantile regression methods to explore the overall impact of economic, industrial, life, culture and opening-up on the agglomeration of marine science and technology talents. The results show that the effect and significance of different factors on different marine science and technology talents agglomeration are different: (1) Natural environment pollution has an obvious inhibitory effect on the agglomeration of marine science and technology talents. The regional GDP, marine output value, marine education level, marine science and technology level, cultural atmosphere and public service level have an obvious promoting effect on the agglomeration degree of marine science and technology talents. While the degree of opening to the outside world has a not significant effect on the agglomeration of marine talents. (2) Marine education level and public service level are the common influencing factors of marine science and technology talents agglomeration. They have positive influence on all provinces and cities with different agglomeration degree of marine science and technology talents, and their effect is stronger in provinces and cities with higher agglomeration degree of marine science and technology talents than provinces and cities with lower agglomeration degree of marine science and technology talents. The regional GDP is the main influencing factor of the provinces with low agglomeration of marine science and technology talents, and the higher the regional GDP is, the higher the agglomeration of marine science and technology talents is. Marine output value is the main influencing factor of the provinces and cities where the agglomeration degree of marine science and technology talents is in the middle position, the higher the regional marine output value is, the higher the agglomeration degree of marine science and technology talents is. The level of marine science and technology has a positive impact on the provinces and cities with low and medium agglomeration of marine science and technology talents. To some extent, the improvement of cultural atmosphere has a more obvious influence on the provinces and cities where the agglomeration degree of marine science and technology talents is in medium and high level, but the effect on the provinces and cities with low agglomeration degree of marine science and technology talents is not obvious.       The above conclusions expand the relevant research on the agglomeration of marine science and technology talents, and they may act as the supplement and improvement for the existing theories of marine science and technology talents agglomeration. In addition, they have some enlightenment to the management of marine science and technology talents agglomeration in China. On the basis of the effect and significance of the influence of various factors, we can guide the reasonable flow and agglomeration of marine science and technology talents according to different circumstances and maximize the effect of talents agglomeration, so as to improve the social and economic problems caused by the unreasonable agglomeration of marine science and technology talents.      Finally, combined with the actual situation of the agglomeration of marine science and technology talents in China, we put forward some policy suggestions for optimizing the agglomeration of marine talents: (1) Provinces and cities with low agglomeration: develop economy further and lay a good economic foundation. The main work of provinces and cities with low agglomeration of marine science and technology talents is to focus on the development of local economy and economic construction, and improve the speed and quality of economic development. (2) Provinces and cities with middle agglomeration: vigorously develop the marine industry and improve the level of marine science and technology. The main work of provinces and cities with middle agglomeration of the marine science and technology talents is to focus on the development of marine industry and marine science and technology, and create the attraction of marine talents relying on the development of marine industry and marine science and technology. (3) Provinces and cities with high degree of agglomeration: create a good cultural atmosphere and rely on cultural soft power to enhance talent cultivation. Provinces and cities with high agglomeration of marine science and technology talents, such as Shanghai and Tianjin, should focus on creating a good urban cultural environment. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The person-post matching, resource empowerment and innovation passion of employees in platform enterprises Yang Jiaoping, Dai Wanliang, Li Hao 2022, 43(10): 200-208.  Abstract ( 190 )       Organizational structure is one of the most important dimensions in the perspective of management, which represents the way that the organization allocates resources. Under the trend of pan-platform development of enterprises and industrial organizations, the innovation advantages of platform organizations have attracted the attention of many scholars. But what are the aspects of innovation advantages of platform organizations? What is its mechanism of action? It is still worth studying in depth.     Based on the analysis of self-determination theory, goal dynamics theory, and resource-based theory, this paper finds that the biggest feature of a platform-based organizational structure is that it achieves the best match between employees and positions, and realizes the full docking of resources and capabilities. The advantage is that it stimulates the innovation passion of employees. Based on this judgment, this paper takes the innovation passion of employees as the starting point, and uses the innovation self-efficacy as the mediating variable to analyze the innovation advantages of platform-based enterprises in terms of person-post matching and resource empowerment.     This research collected 514 paired sample data of 77 companies in east China and north China, and used the multi-level linear regression analysis method to obtain the following results: person-post matching and resource empowerment have a positive cross-level impact on employees′ innovation passion, of which innovation self-efficacy partly mediates the impact of person-post matching on innovation passion, and completely mediates the impact of resource empowerment on innovation passion; resource empowerment positively moderates the direct positive impact of person-post matching on innovation passion. Then, using two independent sample means comparison test methods to compare and analyze 13 platform enterprises and 64 non-platform enterprises, the results show that the level of person-post matching and resource empowerment of platform enterprises is higher than that of non-platform enterprises. The innovation passion of platform employees is higher than that of non-platform enterprises.     After analyzing the statistical results, the following research conclusions are obtained: First, the person-post matching and resource empowerment of platform companies are important reasons for stimulating employees ′innovation passion. Second, the person-post matching can motivate employees′ innovation passion, as it increased employees′ sense of innovation self-efficacy. Third, resource empowerment can stimulate employees′ passion for innovation; on the one hand, because it increases employees′ sense of innovation self-efficacy, on the other hand, it promotes the impact of person-post matching on innovation passion. The contribution of this paper is to extend the analysis framework of strategic management resources and capabilities to the analysis of employees′ passion for innovation through three variables: resource empowerment, person-post matching, and sense of innovation self-efficacy.     The main enlightenment of this research lies in the following aspects: first, no matter whether a company adopts a platform-based organizational structure, it should fully liberate human resources and intellectual capital, and make people use their talents and materials to the best of their ability through person-post matching. Second, companies should change the thinking of the employment relationship between leaders and employees. It should be recognized that the future development of the company depends on the innovative ability of employees. The relationship between the leadership and employees of the company should be a cooperative relationship. Leadership should be a resource provider for employee work. Third, if companies want to increase their employees′ innovation passion, they can seek a breakthrough from the perspective of innovation self-efficacy. On the one hand, enterprises can improve the objective innovation ability of employees through job training and innovation training, and on the other hand, they can increase employees′ self-confidence in their own innovation ability through the creation of an innovation culture. Related Articles | Metrics