| 政企关系与民营企业创新决策研究 |
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| 引用本文： | 江旭,靳瑞杰,沈明眉.政企关系与民营企业创新决策研究[J].科研管理,2022,43(8):63-72. |
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| 作者姓名： | 江旭 靳瑞杰 沈明眉 |
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| 作者单位： | 1.西安交通大学 管理学院，陕西 西安710049；
2.西安交通大学 过程控制与效率工程教育部重点实验室，陕西 西安710049 |
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| 基金项目： | 中宣部文化名家暨“四个一批”人才自主选题资助项目：“联盟网络中企业创新模式研究”（2020—2024）；国家自然科学基金项目：“联盟治理转变的过程机理及其影响效应研究”（71772148，2018—2021）。 |
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| 摘 要： | 为什么我国多数企业醉心于创新数量的累积而普遍缺乏高质量的创新产出？本文基于政治嵌入视角，考察民营企业如何在创新数量与创新质量间进行选择决策。采用2008—2017年中国上市民营企业数据，研究发现：拥有直接政治关联的民营企业更倾向于选择低质量的策略性创新而排斥高质量的实质性创新，表明与政府“过度亲密”（亲而不清）的政企关系是企业创新的“诅咒”；拥有间接政治关联的民营企业对两类创新都有偏好，但更倾向于选择实质性创新，表明与政府“适度亲密”（即亲又清）的政企关系是企业创新的“福音”。民营企业的上述选择决策会受到企业所在地区的制度发展水平、企业与中央的行政层级距离的影响。本文从政企关系视角阐释了我国创新数量和创新质量的不匹配问题，揭示了构建“亲”“清”新型政企关系对激发高质量创新成果的重要作用，有助于指导民营企业进行正确的创新战略选择决策。
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| 关 键 词： | 政治嵌入视角 政治关联 创新数量 创新质量 民营企业 |
| 收稿时间： | 2021-09-13 |
| 修稿时间： | 2022-02-17 |
Research on government-business relations and innovation decision-making of private enterprises |
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| Jiang Xu,Jin Ruijie,Shen Mingmei.Research on government-business relations and innovation decision-making of private enterprises[J].Science Research Management,2022,43(8):63-72. |
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| Authors: | Jiang Xu Jin Ruijie Shen Mingmei |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Management, Xi′an Jiaotong University, Xi′an 710049, Shaanxi, China;
2. Key Laboratory of Process Control & Efficiency Engineering, Ministry of Education, Xi′an Jiaotong University, Xi′an 710049, Shaanxi, China; |
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| Abstract: | In 2006, the Chinese government launched a policy reform to encourage indigenous innovation, which was applicable to all Chinese enterprises. The policy change has produced an increasing number of domestic patent applications. However, most of those patents are low-quality utility patents, with a small proportion of high-quality invention patents. Considering the critical role of the state in economic development, government-business relations are prominent for Chinese enterprises. However, prior research on the impact of political connections on firms′ innovation decisions remains inconsistent. Some studies show a beneficial impact of political connections on corporate innovation while others suggest a detriment effect. These contradictory perspectives and empirical findings present an unresolved theoretical puzzle: Do political connections promote or dampen firm innovation?
Drawing on the political embeddedness perspective, this study examines how direct and indirect political connections affect private enterprises′ innovation strategies. Using a sample of Chinese private enterprises from 2008 to 2017, the empirical results show that Chinese private enterprises with direct political connections are more inclined to promote low-quality strategic innovation rather than high-quality substantive innovation, indicating that excessively intimate relationships with the government becomes the "curse" of innovation. Though such intimate relationships can generate a larger amount of low-quality strategic innovations, it will actually inhibit the development of substantive innovation. Private enterprises with indirect political connections engage in both types of innovation, but they are more inclined to employ substantive innovation rather than strategic innovation. This indicates that moderately intimate relationships with the government is the "blessing" of innovation, which is conducive to generating more innovation output, especially a larger number of high-quality substantive innovations. When private enterprises operate in regions with higher institutional development, the positive effect of direct political connections on strategic innovation will be weakened, the negative effect of direct political connections on substantive innovation will be strengthened, and the positive effects of indirect political connections on both strategic and substantive innovation will be strengthened. Moreover, when private enterprises have a larger administrative hierarchical distance with the central government, the negative effect of direct political connections on substantive innovation and the positive effect of indirect political connections on strategic innovation will be strengthened, but the positive effect on substantive innovation will be weakened.
This paper makes several contributions to the literature. First, we respond to the existing debate regarding the balance between innovation quantity and quality, enriching the research on corporate innovation strategy. Second, through solving the puzzle regarding the impact of political connections on firm innovation, this study advances the research on corporate political connections. Third, this paper extends the application of political embeddedness theory by revealing the paradox effects of political embeddedness on firm innovation. Finally, this paper contributes to the institutional complexity research by establishing a comprehensive framework to understand the effects of political connections within China.
This study also has some practical implications. First, in order to ensure the balance pertaining to the quantity and the quality of innovation, policy makers should build "close" but "clear" government-business relations to avoid the "curse effect" of collusion between businesses and government officials on innovation. At the same time, it is necessary to speed up market-oriented reforms, create a fair market competition environment, and build an endogenous institutional environment that helps private enterprises to develop core technological innovation capabilities and generate more high-quality innovations. Second, firms should be aware of the double-edged effect of political connections on innovation. On the one hand, firm managers should avoid building direct political ties with government officials that are "close" but not "clear", otherwise it will inhibit private enterprises′ high-quality innovation outputs. On the other hand, private enterprises should make full use of the value of indirect political connections. The benefits derived from industry associations can help break through the bottlenecks in fund raising, resource acquisition, fair competition, and intellectual property protection, promoting the production of more high-quality substantive innovations.
This study is not without limitations. First, this paper only differentiates between direct and indirect political connections and examines their distinct impacts on corporate innovation. Future research could examine other taxonomies of political connections and their outcomes. Second, this paper only uses utility and invention patents to measure strategic innovation and substantive innovation, respectively. Future research could complement our study by using measures such as patent novelty or patent semantic citation. Finally, this paper only adopts the registered address of private enterprises as the basis for calculating administrative hierarchical distance. Future research could consider measuring the variable based on the administrative hierarchy of the government that governs private enterprises. |
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| Keywords: | political embeddedness perspective political connection innovation quantity innovation quality private enterprise |
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