Driving Productivity Enhancement:The Role of Corporate Basic Research
Zhou Di1, Tang Zhiwei1,2
1. School of Public Administration,University of Electronic Science and Technology of China,Chengdu 611731,China; 2. Shenzhen Institute for Advanced Study,University of Electronic Science and Technology of China,Shenzhen 518110,China
Abstract：Using data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2000 to 2021,this study measures corporate basic research by examining the national and provincial key laboratories they have established, and studies their productivity effects from the perspective of a developing country. The results show that basic research significantly enhances productivity,mainly by promoting technological innovation and innovation collaboration. Heterogeneity analyses show that the productivity effect of corporate basic research is weaker in economically developed regions than in developing regions;it is stronger in technology-intensive and highly concentrated industries,as well as in large firms and state-owned enterprises. Executives with R&D or overseas backgrounds can play an active role in enhancing productivity though basic research,whereas those with IT or financial backgrounds show no significant roles. Due to the externalities of basic research,firms’ basic research generates spillovers:the productivity of a firm in a region will be positively influenced by the spatial agglomeration of basic research by other firms,and basic research of enterprises will enhance the productivity of upstream suppliers along the supply chain.
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